KAIDOM SKETCHES 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL 
IN 1856. 



REV. JOHN E. EDWARDS, A.M. 




NEW YORK: 

HABPER i BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

1857. 



Entered, ficcordin-;!^ to Act of Congress, in the year one tliousand 
eight hundred and fifty-seven, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

in the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 



¥ 



PREFACE. 



No apology is offered for this book of Travels. It is 
not published at the solicitation of friends, nor because 
there is any apparent need for such a publication. But 
I choose to publish it. The public will decide whether 
it shall, or shall not find readers. Some will read it; 
many will not. This is true of a very large number of 
books of far higher merit than this claims to be. 

It is not true that everybody who goes abroad writes 
a book. Not one in a thousand does this, and yet every 
one has a right to do so if he chooses. It is true, nev- 
ertheless, that many books of travel are written and 
published, and, as a general thing, most of them find a 
wide circulation, and are extensively read. This vol- 
ume pretends to nothing beyond what is indicated on 
the titlepage. It contains mere random sketches and 
surface views, all of which were written in the midst 
of the scenes described, and while the impressions from 
the objects mentioned were fresh upon the mind. It is 
descriptive to a very considerable extent, and the de- 
sign has been to conduct the reader over the whole 
route of travel, and show him what I have seen, and to 
make him feel, as far as I might be able to do so, as 
though he himself had witnessed what I have described. 

The book will be found unequal in some of its parts. 
Portions of it are merely made up of notes, which it 
was my original purpose to expand on my return home, 
but this I have declined doing for several reasons; 
mainly because it would render the work too large ; and 



4 PREFACE. 

I preferred, on reflection, that the reader should have 
it just as I wrote it out on the spot. Much of it was 
written late at night when I was weary and fatigued ; 
I scarcely ever allow^ed a day to pass without writing 
up my journal so as to prevent the intervention of new 
scenes and circumstances modifying, or clouding first 
impressions. 

This work is not historical — not scientific — not 
philosophical, nor does it pretend to anything in a lit- 
erary way. Professor Silliman, Hillard, Olin, Fisk, 
Durbin, Jarvis, and others, have met this demand to the 
fullest extent. This book claims to be accurate in its 
statements, and to have been written during my travels, 
and not to have been composed in the quietness of my 
study at home, from notes taken while away. I carried 
a book in my pocket and often sat down amid the ruins 
of old palaces, and ivy-mantled castle-walls, and imder 
the shadow of crumbling arches, or by the side of time 
worn columns, or in the midst of beautiful grounds, as 
well as by the wayside — on the mountains and in the 
valleys, and on the roofs of vast cathedrals, and in the 
solemn aisles of magnificent churches — by the shores 
of beautiful lakes, and upon the vessel's deck, and wrote 
out my impressions of what was before me. Since my 
return I have merely revised my sketches and notes, 
md now submit them to the public with no other solici- 
tude than that which is felt by a man who desires that 
his work may so far meet with popular favor as to 
result in a reasonable pecuniary return to the author. 
I think I may safely say of my book what quacks often 
say of their nostrums — if it does no good, it will do 
no harm, and this is more than can be said of a great 
many popular publications of the day. 

Petersburg, Virginia, April 1, 1857. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

FROM NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL. 

Departure from New York. — Night upon the Ocean. — Reasons for my 
Voyage. — Companions in Travel. — Life upon the Ocean. — Pas- 
sengers. — Gambling. — Religious Services on Board. — A Gale. — 
Sight of Land. — St. George's Channel. — Take a Pilot. — Arrival 
at Liverpool page 13 

CHAPTER IL 

LONDON. 

Arrival in London. —The Novelty. — Review of the Trip from Liver- 
pool. — St. Paul's Church. — Service. — Humed Round of Sights 
in the Great Metropolis. — Westminster Abbey. — The New Parlia- 
ment Buildings. — Vernon Picture-Gallery. — The Queen's Stables. 34 

CHAPTER III. 

A FEW DAYS IN PARIS. 

From London to Paris. — Grand Hotel du Louvre. — French Coffee. — 
Preparations for Travel. — Learning to Speak French. — An Amu- 
sing Incident. — French Politeness. — Surface Views. — A Day's 
Work in Sight-Seeing. — The Morgue. — Notre Dame. — The Louvre. 

— Its Paintings and Museums. — Bois de Boulogne. — Stroll through 
the Gardens of the Tuileries. — Sunday in Paris. — The Madeleine. 

— Wesleyan Chapel. — Champs Elysees. — Champs de Mars. — 
Hotel de Invalides. — Abattoires. — P6re la Chaise. — Jardin des 
Plantes. — Baby Clothes 51 

CHAPTER IV. 

FROM PARIS TO ROME. 

From Paris to Marseilles. — Marseilles. — Notre Dame de la Garde. — 
Environs. — Drive. — Leave for Civita Vecchia. — Genoa.— Streets.— 
Curiosities.— Churclics.—Wci'sliip.— Departure for Leghorn.— Le^- 



b CONTENTS. 

hoqj. — Shops. — Beggars — Civita Vecchia. — Hide to Rome. — Diflfi- 
culty of obtaining Lodging. — Ileflections late at Night page 74 

CHAPTER V. 

ROME — PASSION -WEEK. 

No Letters. — Bewildered. — Tower. — View. — Topography of Rome. 
— Seven Hills. — Forum. — Coliseum. — Miserere at the Sistine 
Chapel. — Saint Peter's. — Back to my Hotel — Thursday in Holy 
Week. — High Mass, Pope blesses the People. — Ceremony of wash- 
ing Feet. — Churches without Seats. — Vatican. — Library. — Saint 
Peter's. — Dimensions. — Ascent of the Dome. — Subterranean 
Apartments. — Capitol Galleries. — Church, Ara Cccli 99 

CHAPTER VI. 

EASTER SUNDAY IN ROME. 

Day ushered in with Cannon. — Saint Peter's. — Procession. — Cele- 
bration of High Mass by the Pope. — Music. — Splendid Pageant. — 
Pope blesses the People from the Balcony of Saint Peter's. — Crowd 
of Persons. — The Pope. — Cardinal's Carriages. — People's Hatred 
of the High Church Dignitaries 119 

CHAPTER VII. 

ROME — NOTES. 

Illumination of Saint Peter's. — Sunday in Rome. — Pantheon. — Cam- 
pana Villa. — Sacred Stairway, — Albani Villa. — Fireworks, Mon- 
day Night. — Churches. — Santa Maria della Vittoria. — Baths of 
Diocletian. — Santa Maria degli Angeli. — Old Basilica, San Lorenzo, 
outside the City. — Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. — Saint John La- 
teran. — Santa Maria Maggiore. — Pincian Hill. — Pope's Palace and 
the Quirinal Gai'dens. — Rospigliosi Palace. — Guido's Aurora.-— 
Barbarina Palace. — Beatrice Cenci. — Private Studios 125 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ROME. 

Borghese Palace. — Galleries of Paintings. — Studios of Artists. — 
Mechanical Piirt of Sculpture. — Mosaic and Cameo Manufactures. — 
Visit to the Catacombs. — Priests at their Devotions. — Return to 
the City. — Churches. — Protestant Burying-Ground. — Saint Paul's 
beyond the Tiber. — Music. — Baths of Caracalla. — Tomb of the 
Scipios. — Domine quo vadis. — Columbaria. — Sciarri Palace. — 
Colonn.a Palace. — Gardens. --Pontifical Palace. — Borghese Villa. 
• — Ladies 138 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER IX. 

KOME. 

Protestant Religious Service. — Mr. Cass. — Vespers at Saint Peter's. 

— Peace Treaty at Paris. — How received in Rome. — A Day's Work 
in Rome. — San Pietro in Vincoli. — Baths of Titus. — Coliseum. — 
Palace of the Caesars. — Views and Incidents. — Marmetine Prisons. 

— Traditions in Relation to Peter and Paul. — Tarpeian Rock. — 
The Vatican. — Stroll upon the Pincian Hill at Sunset page 150 

CHAPTER X. 

EXCURSION TO TIVOLI. 

Delightful Drive.— Things by the Way. — Hadrian's Villa.— Tivoli.— 
Cascades. — Sights about Town. — Return to Rome. — A pretty Girl 
on the Mountains. — Hail Columbia. — Preparations to leave Rome. 

— Brief Review. — The Music of the Fountain 159 

CHAPTER XI. 

FKOM ROME TO NAPLES. 

Departure from Rome. — Albano. — A Donkey Ride. — Night at Cis- 
terna. — Pontine Marshes. — Terracina. — Fondi. — Customhouse. — 
Orange Groves and Scenery. — Cicero's Tomb. — Mola di Gaeta. — 
Beggars. — Condition of Females. — Fine Agricultural District. — 
Mount Vesuvius. — Arrival in Naples. — First Impressions 169 

CHAPTER XII. 

NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

The Royal Museum. — A Day at Herculaneum and Pompeii. — Ex- 
cavations. — Amphitheatre. — Beggars. — Mount Vesuvius 183 

CHAPTER XIII. 

MORE ABOUT NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

Departure from Naples, — Delay in Starting. — View from the Deck 
of the Steamer, on leaving the Bay. — Sea-sickness. — Visit to the 
Protestant Cemetery. — Mrs. Olin's Grave. — New and Old Campo 
Santo. — Modes of Burial. — The Monks. — The King's Suburban 
Palace on Capo di Monte. — Population. — Manners and Morals. — 
Climate of Italy. — Soil. — Weather 1 95 

CHAPTER XIV. 

LEGHORN, PISA, AND FLORENCE. 

Rough Night on the Mediterranean. — Customhouse Annoyances. — 
Leghorn. — Leannig Tower, Cathedral, Baptistry, and Campo Santo. 



8 CONTENTS. 

— Arrival at Florence. — Eambles through the City. — Uffizii Gall©- 
ries. — Santa Croce. — Pitti Palace. — Gardens. — Views. — Santa 
Maria Novello. — The Duomo. — A Beautiful Sunset in Flor- 
ence PAGE 203 

CHAPTER XV. 

FLORENCE. 

A drive to Fiesole. — Splendid View. — Return to the City. — Muse- 
um. — Galileo's Temple. — Powers' Studio. — Mr. Powers and his 
Works. — Mr. Hart's Studio. — His Sculptometer. — Mr. Barbee's 
Studio. — His Fisher-Girl. — Sunday in Florence. — Churches. — 
Episcopal Church Service. — An Incident. — The Cascine. — Church 
of San Lorenzo. — Michael Angelo's Statuary. — His Genius. — The 
Medician Chapel. — Florentine Mosaic Manufactory. — Laurentian 
Library. — Academy of Fine Arts. — Visit to the Cathedral. — Prep- 
arations to leave Florence 214 

CHAPTER XVL 

FROM FLORENCE TO VENICE. 

Departure from Florence. — Diligence Travelling. — Crossing the Ap- 
ennines. — Arrival at Bologna. — A Day in Bologna. — Churches. 

— University. — Physiological Museum. — Leaning Towers of Bo- 
logna. — Revolutionary Spirit. — Morals of the City. — Blind Musi- 
cians. — A Sweet and Lovely Evening 226 

CHAPTER XVII. 

VENICE — FROM VENICE TO VERONA. 

Arrival in Venice. — From Bologna to Ferrara. — Ferrara. — Tasso's 
Prison. — Cross the Po. — Customhouse on entering Lorabardy. — 
Ride by Rovigo to Padua. — Padua. — Giotti Chapel. — University. 

— Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia. — Piazzo della Regione. — By 
Rail to Venice. — Venice. — Strolls about the City. — Piazzo San 
Marco. — Bridge of Sighs. — San Marco. — Manfrini Palace. — House 
occupied by Lord Byron. — Lunatic Asylum. — Armenian Convent. 

— Ducal Palace. — Prisons. — Bridge of Sighs. — Venice. — Gon- 
dolas and Gondoliers. — Churches. — Rialto. — Campanile. — Sun- 
day in Venice. — State of Religion. — Protestant Episcopal Wor 
ship, &c. — Departure from Venice. — Troubles at the Customhouse. 

— Arrival at Verona 237 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

VERONA AND MILAN. 

Rainy Morning. — Catholic Church. — Two Young Ladies. — Vero- 
nese Veils. — Visit to the Tomb of Juliet. — Amphitheatre. — Ve- 



CONTENTS. 9 

rona. — From Verona to Milan. — Face of the Country. — Arrival 
at Milan. — First Visit to the Cathedral. — San Carlo Borromeo. — 
Second Visit to the Cathedral. — Music. — View fiom the Octagon 
Tower. — Dimensions of the Cathedral. — Brera Gallery. — City 
of Milan. — Drive around the Boulevards.. — Arena. — Arch of 
Peace. — Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. — Ambrosian Library. 

— Last Visit to the Cathedral. — Sunset View from the Roof and 
Tower page 255 

C HAPTER XIX. 

FROM JULAN TO GENEVA. 

Lake Como. — Excursion. — Scenery on the Lake. — Ride to Varese. 

— Processions of Roman Catholics. — A Pony Ride to a Convent. — 
Lake Maggiore. — Pallanza. — Diligence to Domo d'Osolo. — Fme 
Singing by Peasant-Girls. — Ascent of the Alps. — Bi-eig. — Diligence 
down the Valley of the Rhone. — Face of the Country. — Popula- 
tion. — Culture. — Martigny. — Appi-oach to Lake Geneva. — Castle 
of ChiUon. — Vevay 273 

CHAPTER XX. 

GENEVA. 

The Lake. — European Scenery Compared with American. — Ap- 
proach to Geneva. — Hotel. — Rainy Weather. — Dr. Merle d'Au- 
bigne. — His Influence. — Marmfacture of Watches and Jewelry. — 
Singing Bird. — Visit to Dr. Merle d'Aubigne at his Villa La Grav- 
eline. — Theological Schools. — Strolls about Geneva. — View from 
the Hills. — Calvin. — Servetus. — Rousseau. — Picture Gallery. — 
Disappointment. — Swans. — Lausanne. — Hotel Gibbon. — Lord 
Byron's Prisoner of Chillon 289 

CHAPTER XXI. 

FROM LAUSANNE TO BADEN-BADEN. 

Drive from Lausanne to Freyburg. — Suspension Bridges. — The great 
Organ of Freyburg. — Liberty Tree.— ^Freyburg Itself. — Berne. — 
Curious Clock. — Bears. — New Capitol. — Country around Berne. 

— From Berne, by Basle to Strasburg. — Cathedral and Clock of 
Strasburg. — House of the Architect. — Church of Saint Thomas. — 
Protestantism 302 

CHAPTER XXIL 

BADEN-BADEN, HEIDELBERG, FRANKFORT, AND WIESBADEN. 

Baden-Baden and its Environs. — Hot Springs. — Rouge-et-Noir. — 
Females Gambling. — New Castle. — A Hot Bath. — Old Castle on 

r 



10 CONTENTS. 

the Mountains. — From Baden-Baden to Heidelberg. — Ride up the 

Neckar. — Wolfs Spring. — Heidelberg Castle. — Views. — From 

Heidelberg to Frankfort. — Face of the Country. — Drives about 

■ Frankfort. — Sights. — From Frankfort to Wiesbaden. — Gambling. 

— Hot Springs. — Grounds. — Splendid Mausoleum of the Wife of 
the Duke of Nassau page 31 7 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

COLOGNE — ANTWERP — BRUSSELS. 

Biebrich. — Palace and Gardens. — Passage down the Rhine. — Scene- 
ry. — Cathedral in Cologne. — The City. — Paintings. — Eau de Co- 
logne. — Bridge of Boats. — From Cologne to Antwerp. — Face of 
the Country. — Aix la Chapelle. — Customhouse. — Railroad. — 
Scenery by the Way. — Liege. — Manufactures. — Sir Walter Scott's 
Quentin Durward. — Louvain, — Antwerp. — Cathedral. — Rubens' 
Descent from the Cross. — Saint Paul's. — Calvary. — Museum. — 
Artists. — From Antwerp to Brussels. — Mechlin. — Vilvorde. — 
Brussels. — Visit to Battle-Fields of Waterloo. — Anecdotes of Ser- 
geant Mundy. — Cathedral in Brussels. — Zoological Gardens. — Mr 
L'xitlier de Wiertz the Artist. — Brussels Lace. — Pi'ocess of Manu- 
facture. — Value 333 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

PARIS AGAIN, 

Pai'is. — Its Influence. — Religious Aspects. — Amusements. — The Sab- 
bath. — Sevres. — Porcelain. — Versailles. — Gardens. — Le Grand 
Trianon. — Le Petit Trianon. — Queen Antoinette's Apartments. — 
Villa Grounds. — Palace. — Galleries of Paintings. — Grand Review 
on the Champs de Mars by the Emperor in Person. — Saint Denis. 

— Drive to vSaint Cloud through the Bois de Bologne. — Palace of 
the Luxembourg. — Paintings. -r- Hotel de Cluny. — Its Curiosities. 

— French Habits and Customs. — Champs Elysees. — Sports and 
Amusements. — Public Gardens. — Chateau des Fleurs. — Jardin 
Mabille. — Jardin d'Hiver. — Excursion to Fontainebleau. — Its 
Palace and Forests. — Jardin des Plantes. — Palais de I'lndustrie. — 
Cattle Show. — Pantheon. — Parisian Politeness.- — Review on leav- 
ing Paris 356 

CHAPTER XXV. 

RETURN TO LONDON. 

From Paris to Southampton by Rouen and Havre. — Day spent on tho 
Isle of Wight. — Cowes. — Newport. — Carisbrooke Castle. — Ar- 
reton. — Dairyman's Daughter's Grave. — The Dairyman's Cottage. 



CONTENTS. 11 

— Brading. — Parkhurst Prison. — From Southampton to London. — 
Sunday in London. — Dr. John Camming. — ^Old City Koad Wes- 
leyan Chapel. — Cemetery. — Tower of London. — London Docks. 

— Tunnel. — Visit to Greenwich. — Return to London on the 
Thames page 372 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

LONDON AND ITS VICINITY. 

Zoological Gardens. — Royal Exchange. — Dr. Melville's Tuesday Lec- 
ture. — Sydenham. — Grounds and Palace. — British Museum. — 
Richmond. — Wesleyan Theological School. — Methodism in Great 
Britain. — Queen Victoria and the Royal Family. — Ascot Races. — 
An Evening at Mr. Haldane's. — Dr. Merle d'Aubigne. — Visit to 
Windsor Castle, Parks, and Lakes. — Cranbrook ToAver 385 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

LONDON, OXFORD, AND STRVrrORD ON AVON. 

Mr. Binney. — A Visit to the Bank of England. — House of Lords. — 
House of Commons. — Speck of War. — Parliament Buildings. — 
Westminster Abbey again. — Excursion to Oxford. — Its Colleges. — 
Leamington. — Warwick Castle. — Stratford on Avon. — The House 
in which Shakespeare was born. — The Church in which he and his 
Wife are entombed. — Return to London 405 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

BIRMINGHAM — SHEFFIELD YORK LEFDS AND MANCHESTER. 

Leave London. — Leamington. — Kenilworth Castle. — Guy's Cliff. 

— Birmingham. — Ministers. — Churches. — Manufactures. — From 
Birmingham to Chatsworth. — Castle, Gardens, etc. — From Chats- 
worth to Sheffield. — The Town and its Manufactures. — From 
Sheffield to York. — Cathedral, St, Mary's Abbey, etc. — Leeds. — 
Manchester. — Liverpool 416 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

FROM LIVERPOOL TO DUBLIN : DUBLIN AND THE LAKES OF KIL- 
LABNEY. — BELFAST AND THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY. 

From Liverpool to Chester. — From Chester to Bangor. — Conway. — 
Tubular Bridge. — Holyhead. — Passage across the Channel. — Ap- 
pearance of the Country. — Dublin. — Saint Patrick's Cathedral. — 
Filthy District of the City. — Stephen's Green. — Wesleyan Meth- 
odist Conference. — Public Monuments. — Streets. — From Dublin 
to Killarney. — Lakes. — Condition of the People. — Return to 
Dublin. — Portadown. — Belfjist, — Giant's Causewav 428 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

THE HIGHLANDS GLASGOW — EDINBURG — ABBOTSFORD — ENGLISH 

LAKES — LIVERPOOL. 

From Belfast to Glasgow. — Excursion on Loch Lomond. — Ascent of 
Ben Lomond. — Glasgow. — From Glasgow to Edinburg. — The 
City of Edinburg. — Holyrood Palace. — Edinburg Castle, etc. — 
Visit to Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford. — English Lakes. — UUes- 
water. — Wendermere. — The Country around. — Liverpool. page 443 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

CONCLUSION. 

American Tourists in Europe. — Obiects which most Interest them. — 
Sources of Information. — Natural Scenery Coippared with Amer- 
ican Scenery. — Mountain Scenery in Switzerland. — Landscapes 
in Italy, -r- Skies and Sunsets in Ita^y ooraj)ared with those Present- 
ed in America. — English Tourists. — The Fine Arts. — Criticisms, 
etc. — Night on the Ocean 456 



RANDOM SKETCHES. 



CHAPTER I. 

FROM NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL. 

Departure from New York. — Night upon the Ocean. — Reasons for 
my Voyage. — Companions in Travel. — Life upon the Ocean. — 
Passengers. — Gambling. — Religious Services on board. — A Gale. 
— Sight of Land. — St. George's Channel. — Take a Pilot. — Arrival 
at Liverpool. 

Feb. 20, 1856. — I took passage to-day, at three 
o'clock, p. M., on board the new and splendid ocean- 
steamship Persia^ bound from New York to Liverpool. 
We are just now outside Sandy Hook ; and as the sun 
sinks behind the blue rim of the horizon, I commence 
my Random Sketches and Notes of Travel, which I 
propose keeping up daily, while impressions are strong 
and vivid upon my mind, during the whole period of 
my absence from the port which I am now leaving be- 
hind. 

The last boat which brought passengers out to the 
Persia from the Cunard docks on the Jersey City side, 
drew off, thronged with hundreds of persons who ha(^ 



14 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

accompanied tlieir friends on board the great steamer, 
lying midway between Jersey City and New York ; 
presently the machinery was in motion, and the majes- 
tic ship moved off slowly from her moorings, and, after 
describing a great circle upon the bosom of the ice- 
bound harbor, she stood out toward the sea. The scene 
was exciting when the signal-guns were fired, and the 
crowd on the deck of the tender raised a shout that 
rang out on the cold, wintry air, like the rejoicings of 
a great multitude, and was responded to right merrily 
by the passengers on board the departing ship ; while 
snowy handkerchiefs were waving over hundreds of 
heads, as the voiceless but expressive farewells between 
friends who might never meet again. 

The sailing of an ocean-steamer, though now almost 
a daily occurrence, can not fail to excite the deepest 
interest and awaken the most intense solicitude in many 
minds. Each departing ship, in its outward-bound 
voyage, bears persons away in pursuit of either health, 
pleasure, fame, or wealth, who leave dear ones behind 
in whose bosoms a trembling and painful anxiety is felt 
in behalf of the adventurers. And as friends stand 
upon the boat that has borne the passengers from the 
shore to the ship in the stream, and with upturned 
faces and eager eyes pry among the dense throng that 
crowds the upper deck, to catch a parting glance or 
token of recognition from a father, a brother, a son, or 
a partner in business, the loud huzza may ring out from 
the lips, but it is hard to check the rising tear, or sup- 
press the emotion that swells the heart : — 

" When forced to part with those we love, 
Though sure to meet to-morrow, 
We yet a kind of anguish prove, 
And feel a touch of sorrow." 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 15 

But our gallant and beautiful ship is hastening on 
toward the ocean. The lofty steeples and spires of 
New York are fading away in the distance : we pass 
the bar, discharge the pilot, snap the last link that 
binds us to the receding shore, and find ourselves fairly 
afloat upon the wide domain of waters. 

Night is upon the ocean. As the shades of the even- 
ing gathered around us, a faint outline of the gradu- 
ally-sinking mainland was seen on the horizon ; while 
the beacon-lights along the shore gleamed and twinkled 
amid the darkness like the lights of hope upon the verge 
of life. The broad, full moon, occasionally obscured 
by a passing cloud, rose over the waters of the " dark- 
blue sea," and spread out before us a path of light upon 
the restless, brilliant, and crested waves, luminous and 
bright as the gates of glory. But the winter is not yet 
over. The last seven weeks have been intensely cold. 
Our rivers, canals, and harbors, are locked up in ice, 
the like of which, for so long a time, has never been 
Avituessed by the oldest inhabitant of our country. The 
Pacific, a fine steamer of the Collins line, now out 
twenty-eight days from Liverpool, has not been heard 
from since she sailed. Serious apprehensions are en- 
tertained that she is lost. The Persia, which sailed 
from Liverpool but three days later than the Pacific, 
encountered large fields of ice, which partially disabled 
her, and we can not tell what awaits us. But we cast 
aside gloomy forebodings, and put our trust in God. 

Ten o^ clock at Night. — The last hour has been spent 
upon the upper deck. The prospect is perfectly capti- 
vating. It is almost as light as day. The eye can 
range over a wide expanse of waters, agitated and bro- 
ken by the wind, and sparkling in the moonbeams. 
Leaning over the prow of the ship, it was pleasant to 



16 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

listen to the splasli and murmur of the waters, as the 
wreaths of foam parted and rolled off to the right and 
left, and dissolved again like the snowflake on the wave. 
Near me, an old sailor upon the forward watch nar- 
rated to my fellow-voyagers some yarns about ship- 
wrecks and sad disasters at sea, in which he, of course, 
shared and acted a conspicuous and exciting part. He 
was once wrecked on the coast of Africa, and supported 
himself for the space of thirty-six hours in the sea, on 
a small spar of the vessel, swimming first with one 
hand and then the other, until he got upon a sand- 
bank, and ultimately was saved. In the midst of his 
narrative the third bell of the watch was struck, and 
the old weather-beaten tar, in a sort of mechanical way, 
with a hard, iron voice, cried out, "All's well!" and 
it was caught up by the men on duty and carried from 
the forward watch, " All's well !" " All's well !" till it 
died away at the other end of the ship, which was 
nearly four hundred feet from us. It is pleasant in the 
night-watches to hear that sound flung upon the passing 
winds— "All's well!" 

I pause a moment before I lay down my pen to-night 
to inquire, lohy I am here. Why liave I left my home, 
and my pastoral charge, and thrown myself upon the 
ocean at a cold and stormy season of the year ? I think 
I can say that nothing but the hope of regaining my 
health, so as to enable me the more effectually to exe- 
cute my whole mission as a preacher of the gospel, 
could have induced me, at this time, to leave my family 
and my church, to encounter the perils of a sea-voyage, 
and the privations of foreign travel. As much pleasure 
as I might anticipate in visiting the Old World, and pas- 
sing a few months among the monumental piles that tell 
of a past generation, and gazing upon all the magnifi- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 17 

cence which the present age spreads before the eye of 
the European traveller, I feel confident that the ruling 
motive in finally determining my mind in favor of tak- 
ing the voyage and tour on which I have now entered, 
and to which I am fully committed, is, the desire to 
render myself more useful as a pastor and preacher of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. May God go with me, and 
may the end proposed be fully accomplished. 

Three highly-esteemed young gentlemen are my com- 
panions in travel, forming a most agreeable and pleas- 
ant little party, namely, Mr. Amandus N. Walker, of 
Richmond, Virginia; Mr. John P. Branch, of Peters- 
burg, and Mr. Abram D. Warwick, of Lynchburg. We 
propose passing directly through England and France 
on our way to Italy, where we design spending the 
months of March and April, and then return through 
Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, and Great 
Britain. We have allotted but six or seven months to 
this tour, hoping to get back to the port of New York> 
at the latest, by the first of September next. 

Feb. 23. — Much has been said of the monotony of 
a sea-voyage ; and it must be admitted that there is but 
little variety in calm, clear skies of unvarying blue ; in 
a smooth, unruffled sea, unbroken by a billow ; in a suc- 
cession of days upon the waste of waters, unrelieved 
by a solitary sail ; in steady breezes from the same point, 
requiring no change in the canvass of the ship, and in 
the same uniform round of duties performed by the 
officers. Indeed, one can scarcely think of a more pro- 
found solitude than that which reigns around a merchant- 
vessel, far out at sea, during a long continuance of fair 
and pleasant weather, with but few passengers on board, 
and barely wind enough to fill out the sails, and keep 
the ship upon its course — the sailors hanging listlessly 



18 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

over the bulwarks, with a yacaiit eye upon the sea, or 
lying upon a coil of ropes in the sunshine, dozing away 
the idle hours ; the captain with his chart, engaged in 
some aimless calculation; the subordinate officers care- 
lessly pacing the deck without employment; the im- 
prisoned passengers sighing for the shore, and all — 

" As idle as a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean." 

But it is far different on a splendid ocean-steamer, 
crowded with passengers, and propelled by a power that 
drives it forward, alike in calm and storm, and thus 
breaks the monotony that otherwise makes the sea- 
voyage irksome, and dull. The motion of the m^acliin- 
ery ; the action of the gallant ship bounding beneath the 
passengers ; the boiling foam, crackling and flashing in 
the wake of the vessel, and the visible evidences that 
one is hastening onward to the desired port, all serve 
to give life and animation to the scene and relieve the 
tedium of life at sea. 

Since we left New York we have enjoyed fine weather. 
We are now nearly a thousand miles from Sandy Hook. 
The temperature is about fifty degrees Fahrenheit, and we 
have the promise of a quick and pleasant voyage. The 
sea has been so smooth that there has been but little 
perceptible motion in the ship, and but few have been 
troubled with sea-sickness. The Persia is a noble and 
elegant ship; the fare and accommodations are most 
excellent, and one can be almost as comfortable on ship- 
board as in a first-class hotel on shore. 

We have a large number of passengers, and among 
them there are representatives of all nations and creeds ; 
nor is there any grade or type of moral character that 
may not be found in this diversified crowd of human 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL 19 

beings. The voluble Frenchman, the more thoughtful 
German, the stiff and formal Englishman, the sober- 
sided Scotchman, the independent Swiss, the indolent 
Spaniard, the pantomimic Italian, and all sorts of 
Americans, from the most polished and elegant gentle- 
man to the rudest boor, are in this heterogeneous mass. 
And the confusion of Babel scarcely split the earth into 
more languages than strike the ear in the dining-saloon, 
when a good dinner has put every one in a fine humor, 
and the sparkling champagne has given exhilaration to 
the spirits, and volubility to the tongues of the talk- 
ative crowd. 

The mania for gambling is developing itself among 
the passengers. The intervals between the meals are 
devoted to cards, chess, backgammon, and other games, 
not merely for recreation and amusement, but for gam- 
bling purposes, and large amounts of money are constant- 
ly changing hands between the parties engaged. Nor 
is this gambling confined to games of chance, or games 
that tax the intellect, but men are found who are ready 
to bet on anything. Parties are betting on the number 
of days that the Persia will occupy in her present 
voyage ; betting on the hour of the day she will get into 
port ; betting on the number of the boat from which 
the ship will take her pilot ; betting that the Persia will 
got to Liverpool before the Quaker City which sailed 
four days before the Persia ; betting that the Pacific is 
not lost, and on a hundred other things of a similar 
nature. For some reason the captain of the Persia re- 
fuses to post the daily run of the ship. This is a source 
of very great dissatisfaction to many on board. It is 
regarded as a foolish and unreasonable innovation upon 
established usage. It is said, however, that Captain 
Judkins refuses to do this because of the gambling to 



20 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

which it leads. The prevailing, if not universal custom 
on the regular ocean-steamers is, to post the run of the 
ship every day at noon, as soon as the observations are 
made. As soon as this is done a large number of per- 
sons are found who are ready to bet that she will not 
run as far, or that she will run farther, the next twenty- 
four hours ; and in this way a large amount of money is 
won and lost during the voyage. Our good captain, how- 
ever, I am inclined to think, declines to post the run of 
his ship, more from a careful regard for the safety of 
the passengers, and to avoid the suspicion that the 
officers are implicated in this betting, than from any 
conscientious scruples on the subject. This abuse of 
the posting of the run of the ship, has, in this case, cut 
off the whole of the passengers from the gratification 
of knowing anything about their distance from the port 
left behind, or the port of destination ahead, only as it 
may ]3e ascertained from subordinate officers of the ship, 
who, in this regard, manifest a more polite attention to 
the wishes of the passengers than the cold, curt, and 
snappish captain who replies to a reasonable inquiry 
with a grunt, and turns away without giving any satis- 
faction. It is a pleasure to the passengers to know how 
they are progressing on their voyage, and it is absurd 
and unreasonable, to deny them this gratification be- 
cause gamblers will bet on the run of the ship when 
this is daily communicated to them. 

Outside of the ship there is but little to vary the tire- 
some monotony. The same scenes are constantly before 
the eye. An occasional sail seen in the distance, and 
gliding like a spectre upon the edge of the horizon, or 
a sea-gull on tireless wing, or a flock of " Mother Ca- 
rey's chickens" in the wake of the vessel, is about all 
that meets the view as it ranges over the sea, except 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 21 

the sky and water. And yet, with agreeable compan- 
ions, a passenger may pass his time almost as pleasant- 
ly, in the absence of sea-sickness, as upon the land. 
And no one need be at a loss for society. All the pas- 
sengers occupy a common platform, and without the 
formalities of an introduction one may converse with 
whom he chooses, without any violation of what by 
common consent is regarded as etiquette among travel- 
lers. Some very agreeable and delightful acquaint- 
ances may be formed in a voyage across the Atlantic 
by availing one's self of the advantages which this free- 
dom of intercourse allows ; for there is scarcely any 
assemblage, composed of the same number of persons, 
in which the same amount of general intelligence may 
be found as in the company on an ocean-steamer. There 
is not a subject in the whole range of literature, poli- 
tics, science, commerce, or agriculture, in relation to 
which some one may not be met with who possesses the 
highest degree of information ; and every one, with ex- 
ceedingly rare exceptions, seems willing to converse, 
and impart information to others. 

Feb. 24. — We had religious services on board this 
morning. By order of the recognised authorities, it is 
made the duty of the captains of each of the " Royal 
Mail Steam-Packets" of the Canard line to read the 
morning service of the church of England every Sunday 
morning while the vessel is on her voyage. It is fur- 
ther provided that no minister of the gospel shall 
preach on shipboard except he be a minister of the Es- 
tablishment, or a Protestant Episcopal minister. The 
Rev. Dr. Arnett, a Protestant Episcopal minister of 
the United States, was found on board, and his services 
were engaged for the occasion. Captain Judkins took 
his position at the side of the saloon, back of the dining- 



22 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

tables, with his bible and prayer-book before him, and 
the Rev. Dr. Arnett by his side. Prayer-books were 
distributed among all the persons present, and the cap- 
tain began in a deep, rich, strong tone of voice — 
" Dearly beloved brethren, the scripture moveth us in 
divers places," etc. ; and I must say that he read the 
whole service, scripture lessons, collect, and all, in a 
style and manner that would have done credit to the 
archbishop of Canterbury. There was a gravity, dig- 
nity, and solemnity, that well befitted the beautiful 
service of the church of England. He prayed, of 
course, for Queen Victoria, and Prince Albert, and the 
prince of Wales, and then threw in a prayer for the 
President of the United States, to which there were 
many earnest responses. While it is pleasant to en- 
gage in religious services on the holy sabbath, far away 
from the sanctuaries on land and the dear ones at home, 
I must confess that there was much that appeared to 
me ludicrous, and even farcical, in the services of this 
morning. First of all, no one accuses the good captain, 
so far as I have heard, of being a pious man. He is a 
first-rate seaman, no doubt, and understands managing 
a ship, but would not be taken as a man possessing the 
suitable qualifications for leading the devotions of a 
worshipping assembly. Then, the solemnity and grav- 
ity with which he reads the service, while it is becom- 
ing the occasion, strikes one as assumed or afiected. 
With solemn and impressive voice, lifting his eyes from 
his book to heaven, he prays " for all sorts and condi- 
tions of men." But that w^hich struck me as the most 
farcical feature in the performance was the part which 
was taken in the service by sinners of every grade on 
board. Those who had been most profane and boister- 
ous over their brandy and cards the evening before, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 23 

were foremost and loudest in giving out tlie responses. 
During the sermon, which was short and good, Lord 

B turned over the leaves of his prayer-book, and 

paid no attention to the discourse ; a grave old Scotch- 
man nodded, and was only prevented from bumping his 
head against the table by the kind attentions of his 
daughter ; some young men near me found much to 
amuse them in the first morning lesson, which was the 
thirty-ninth chapter of Genesis ; while a blustering old 
Frenchman, who seemed to think w^e were about to 
have too much of a good thing, fidgeted about, and 
clambered over the table, and went puffing and blowing 
out of the saloon, as though he were in a state of sufib- 
cation. 

At one o'clock to-day an iceberg w^as descried in the 
distance, on the port bow. It must have been fifteen 
miles distant when first discovered. This attracted a 
large number of passengers on the upper deck, though 
the wind had veered and was blowing very hard, ac- 
companied with occasional showers of rain. At first 
we only saw the top of the iceberg above the sea, sway- 
ing to and fro with the motion of the waves ; but as we 
ran on our course, and changed our relative position to 
it, we saw more of the huge mass, rising like a jagged 
rock out of the sea, covered with snow. Every spy- 
glass and opera-glass on shipboard was brought into 
requisition ; but it was so cloudy, and the atmosphere 
was so misty, that we could not see it to advantage. 
It was difficult to determine its height above the trou- 
bled waters that rolled around it, and beat on its rough 
and cavernous sides. An iceberg had been seen early 
in the morning, before the passengers were out of their 
state-rooms, which was supposed to be from one hun- 
dred and fifty to two hundred feet high. Tliis was not 



24 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

more than one hundred feet in elevation. The general 
appearance was white ; but there were portions of it 
that appeared dark — occasioned, most probably, by the 
fissures and water-worn parts, which caused an unequal 
reflection of the light. We watched it till it disap- 
peared, dropping away behind the western wave. Any- 
thing of the sort excites great interest at sea ; indeed, 
the merest trifle will furnish a theme for an animated 
conversation for hours together. 

Feb. 26. — Yesterday we had a terrific gale. It 
commenced blowing on Sunday evening, and continued 
to increase in violence for twenty-four hours. Sea- 
sickness became universal ; and oh such sickness ! It 
is horrible beyond the conception of any one who has 
never experienced it. But few were able to get to the 
table during the whole day, and it was with the utmost 
difficulty that anything could be kept in its place ; and 
every one who attempted to walk about the saloon ran 
the imminent hazard of having his head brought in con- 
tact with the floor. Gambling was entirely suspended, 
and a large majority of the passengers were confined 
to their state-rooms. But I shall never forget the 
grandeur and magnificence of the sea, as the scene was 
presented late yesterday evening, when the gale was at 
its height, and the wind was most violent. The ocean 
was lashed into maddened rage and fury ; the waves 
lifted up their voices on high, while the hoarse and 
dismal roar of the tempest was like some solemn and 
portentous utterance of Nature on the approach of a 
world-wide, desolating scourge. A thick mist was 
hanging over the sea, and a smothering spray dashing 
over the ship. In the murky gloom it was not difficult 
to imagine that mountains of ice lay concealed just 
ahead, and that the next moment our great iron steam- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 25 

er might come in contact with the hidden, floating, 
ocean-rock, with an awful crash, which would prove 
just as disastrous as if she were driven by the storm 
upon the granite-bound shore. The vessel rolled, and 
creaked, and groaned ; and when struck by the seas 
which came in contact with her bows like masses of 
molten lead, she would tremble from stem to stern, as 
if suddenly arrested in her course by a wall of brass. 
No one has ever yet adequately described a storm at 
sea. It can not be described in words, or delineated 
on canvass. In any mere description or scenic repre- 
sentation, there is the absence of the wailing of the 
storm-fiends among the spars and shrouds ; the labor- 
ing, staggering motion of the ship as she plunges into 
the sea, or climbs the waves ; the hurried tread of the 
officers and sailors on the deck ; the " heave and pull 
away, boys," of the hardy and fearless tars ; the shrill 
sound of the boatswain's whistle ; and, above all, the 
appalling roar of the howling winds, which sounds like 
the funeral-dirge of a lost world ! 

This morning opened with a thunder-storm, and a 
copious fall of rain. While we were at breakfast there 
was a sudden flash of lightning, and simultaneous with 
it, a clear crack, like that of the discharge of a rifle. 
A debate arose at the table as to what it was. Some 
said it was a pistol shot on deck ; others were equally 
confident that one of the guns of the ship had been 
discharged in response to a distressed vessel at sea; 
while others maintained that it was a clap of thunder. 
I remarked that I had never heard such a clap of thun- 
der as that before. To which a gentleman not far from 
me coolly and facetiously replied, '' That is the way it 
has of doing things out here." We soon had all our 
doubts removed ; for, presently, we had several vivid 
2 



26 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

glares of lightning, accompanied by successive peals of 
thunder ; after which the clouds rolled away, and van- 
ished into air, and as sweet and calm a sky as ever 
smiled upon the ocean, bent in gracefulness and beauty 
over the troubled and agitated billows of the restless 
sea. 

And now it is night. The ocean, as if weary after 
the buffetings of the gale, seems to rest and sleep, like 
a worn-out warrior when the battle strife is over. A 
silence, unbroken by even the sighing of the winds, 
reigns over the wide, wide sea. The stars, undimmed 
by a vapor, shine out most brilliantly in the mysterious 
depths of the azure vault above, and are reflected back 
again in the profounder depths of the reverse concave 
vault beneath. The constellations glitter like diamond 
mosaics set in sapphire, among which are most con- 
spicuous, Orion, with his richly-studded belt ; the Great 
Bear, prowling around the polar-star ; and Cassiopeia, 
the queenly lady, in maidenly beauty, all glittering 
in resplendent gems, seated in her stately chair, and 
reposing in dignified ease amid the starry hosts of 
night. 

My feelings change with the fickle winds and waves. 
" When seas are calm and skies are cletir," I know of 
no place on the globe that I would prefer to a station 
on the deck of a fine steamship, far out from land ; 
especially in the evening hour when the sun sinks away, 
and melts, like a glorious mass of burnished gold, into 
the sea, and when the floating clouds are painted'with 
vermilion, orange, and violet hues, and a thousand 
delicate and ever-varying tints are flitting from crim- 
soned skirt to snowy fleece, till the whole sweep of the 
horizon, still glowing with the light of the hidden sun, 
is hung with a gorgeous drapery of golden-fringed 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 27 

clouds, rich and splendid enough to curtain the portals 
of heaven : when, 

" With steady helm and free-bent sail," 

the white-winged ship flies along her course ; when 
health and merriment reign on board, and when every- 
thing conspires to make one happy and light-hearted, 
then I love the sea. But let the heavens be shrouded 
in gloomy clouds, let the winds blow and beat up a 
rough sea, let the spray dash over the deck, and a 
drizzling mist hang over the waters, let sea-sickness 
prevail, and a rueful, wo-begone expression meet you 
in every countenance, and then I had rather be on any 
other spot of the globe than on the ocean. 

I stood alone amid a crowd this evening, as the twi- 
light was deeping into the darkness of night, for my 
thoughts had carried me far over the sea, and I had 
travelled back to my little home-circle, in the parsonage 
at Richmond, and was communing with the loved ones 
left behind me. For awhile I heard not the murmur 
of the waters around the ship, nor the merry laugh of 
the gay and happy passengers that thronged the deck, 
nor the song of the sailors as they tightened the sails. 
The enchantment was broken, and the dream dissipated, 
by my friend Walker coming up and laying his hand 
upon my shoulder, and with a lugubrious expression of 
countenance, and a sympathetic tone of voice, saying : 
" I think that Branch is now the sickest one of our 
party. Look at him," said he, " yonder he is, keeled 
over against the wheelhouse, as sick as a dog." Poor 
fellow ! sure enough, there he was, hardly able to raise 
his eyes, or lift his hand. He had crawled out of his 
stateroom, and was lying on deck, almost as helpless 
as a child. But that which amused me most was tho 



28 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

manner of my humorous young friend, Walker, who 
had been in his berth for more than forty-eight hours, 
unable to eat anything, and who looked, for all the 
world, as though he had just gotten up from an attack 
of cholera. But the night wears away. The cry of 
"All's well" is heard along the deck. For the present 
I resign my pen ; and committing myself to the care 
of Him who rules the sea, I seek a night's repose — 

Rocked in the cradle of' the deep." 

March 1. — This morning early we saw the land. 
The first point that presented itself through the opening 
mist was Kinsale head, on the southern coasts of Ire- 
land. The fog had prevented the keen-sighted officers 
from catching even a glimpse of Cape Clear light, which 
would have been seen at three o'clock in the morning 
had the atmosphere been free from vapors. All hailed 
the land with delight. The passengers, by scores, came 
on deck to look for a few moments upon the rocky bluff 
which peered out upon us from an opening in the misty 
shroud that concealed the main land. A gleam of sun- 
shine fell upon the lighthouse, and a faint outline of 
the shore was descried through the fo^; but in a mo- 
ment the view was cut off, and we were again enveloped 
in the mist. It was my first glimpse of Ireland. The 
emotions were strange that filled my breast. Here was 
the land of a noble, generous, and valorous people ; but 
a people who have struggled long and hard with op- 
pression and adversity. Our own country is full of the 
"Exiles of Erin." Forced away by famine, hardship, 
and wrong, they have sought homes in our free and happy 
land ; and there is scarcely a lad among us that has not 
heard some story of the " Emerald Isle" told with the 
rich brogue of the Irishman, that has excited his sym- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 29 

pathies, for the starving poor of what should be one of 
the most prosperous and happy parts of the globe, and 
awakened a desire to see the soil on which were born 
such men as Moore, Emmet, Curran, O'Connell, and 
other Irish celebrities. 

We have had a delightful day on St. George's 
channel. At ten o'clock it was clear, and the land 
was full in view on the coasts of Ireland. The Persia, 
disburdened of her load of coal, and on the bosom of 
a beautiful sheet of water, unruflSed by a breeze made 
fine headway, and brought us off Holy-Head light by 
nine o'clock to-night. 

At dinner to-day we had an agreeable and pleasant 
incident. Being the last day of the voyage, according 
to custom, the captain gave a fine dinner, and furnished 
the champagne free of extra charge. At the close of 
the dinner, an intelligent old gentleman, at the request 
of the passengers, arose and made a sensible and ap- 
propriate speech, in which he alluded to the safe and 
successful voyage of the new steamer across the At- 
lantic. He paid a high compliment to the skill of the 
captain ; but remarked, in passing, that he did not enjoy 
the pleasure of his acquaintance; apologizing at the 
same time for the captain's want of ease, freedom, and 
sociability, with the passengers. The old gentleman 
closed by proposing " the steamer Persia, and the health 
of Captain Judkins." This was received with great 
applause, and drunk standing. The captain made a 
happy response. He alluded to the reference which 
had been made to his apparent want of sociability, and 
said that he cared too much for the lives and comfort 
of those committed to his charge, as the chief officer of 
the ship, to give up his time, pleasant as it might be to 
him, to the enjoyment of the society of the passengers. 



80 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

He said that he had the command of a new steamer ; 
all iron ; the largest in the world ; and that he had re- 
sponsibilities devolved on him, in the management of 
the ship, that none of the passengers would willingly 
assume. He alluded to the rough and stormy weather 
we had passed through, and acknowledged the hand of 
a kind and merciful Providence in bringing us safely 
over the ocean. Captain Judkins is a blunt, unvarnished 
man ; but a skilful seaman. 

Liverpool, March 2. — We came up to Liverpool 
this morning, and after the usual customhouse ex- 
aminations, which were not ver}- rigid, were put on 
shore. "When our little steamer came to the stage or 
wharf, bearing a portion of the passengers from the 
Persia which had dropped anchor out in the stream, 
there were thousands upon the shore waiting the arrival. 
Many were anxiously looking for long-absent friends ; 
and it was pleasing to witness the tears and smiles of 
recognition that passed between those on shore, and 
those on the boat. But as my eyes ranged over the 
immense throng, and scrutinized the faces of whole 
battalions of strangers there was not found a familiar 
face, or a single look of recognition. 

We had an amusing scene on board the Persia this 
morning, before our arrival at Liverpool. Near twelve 
o'clock last night, after a magnificent display of blue 
lights and sky-rockets, as signals, we took a pilot on 
board, about forty miles below the city. As soon as 
the pilot took charge of the ship the captain turned in 
for a night's repose. He slept rather late this morning, 
and awoke, evidently expecting to find the ship at her 
anchorage in the Liverpool harbor. To his profound 
amazement he found that the pilot had actually lost his 
bearings in the thick fog which had gathered over the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 31 

Mersey, and really did not know where he was. He 
was lost ! He could not see the lights, buoys, or land- 
marks, and consequently had no means of navigating 
the ship, except by feeling his way in the dark with the 
lead. In his confusion and bewilderment he had manag- 
ed to get the ship turned nearly right about, and was 
steering, he knew not whither. The captain saw from 
his compass that something was wrong and immediately 
assumed the command. He first essayed to find out 
where he was, and this he hoped to do by discovering 
some of the buoys that mark the channel. The lead 
was thrown every few minutes ; and, in feeling about, 
the ship described some of the grandc.^-t sorts of curves 
and segments of circles upon the glassy surface of the 
river. The captain lost his temper, and called the pilot 
stupid^ ^v\\\\ a prefix that need not be named, especially 
as he reads prayers for the crew and passengers on 
Sunday morning. The pilot was ordered down from 
the bridge, in no very complimentary terms to his pro- 
fessional skill. The whole scene amused the passen- 
gers, and there was no little merriment at the pilot's 
expense. Meanwhile, the ship appeared like some de- 
ranged or crazy sea-monster, with its eyes put out, cir- 
cling and boggling about in the fog. We did not know 
whether we were going out to sea, or drawing near to 
Liverpool. Finally, a buoy was discovered, and the 
ship put upon her course. The captain was anxious to 
discover the " bell-buoy" — so called from its having a 
bell attached to it, that indicates its locality by its 
ringing in a storm, when agitated by the winds and 
waves. This, in the language of seaman, is called the 
" bell-Z>o?/." The captain vociferated, " Where is the 
' belWo^ .^"' At length, some one on the watch dis- 
covered it, and cried out, " There is the ' bell-boy,' on 



32 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the starboard bow!" — "Ay, ay!" responded the cap- 
tain. All was right now. The iron face of the chief 
of&cer relaxed into a pleasant expression. The pilot 
regained his position, and a cheerful spirit diffused it- 
self on shipboard. At the usual place, the captain 
gave command to fire the guns. It was done. " Load 
and fire again !" The order was obeyed. " Load and 
fire again !" commanded the captain. " What ! again ?" 
inquired the astonished officer. ""X'es," said the cap- 
tain, with decided emphasis ; '' load and fire till I tell 
you to stop !" The order was carried out ; and the re- 
yerberating peals of the cannon wakened up the sleep- 
ing echoes, that came back in multiplied responses from 
the dock-walls, buildings, and fortifications, along tho 
shore. 

It was affecting to hear the anxious inquiry from ev- 
ery vessel, as we came into port — "Any news from the 
Pacific ?" and to witness the sadness that exhibited it- 
self in every countenance as the answer, " None !" 
mournfully rang over the waters like tho knell of a lost 
ship. 

We were too late on shore to attend religious ser- 
vices in any of the churches this morning. In the even- 
ing we heard the Rev. Dr. M'Neal, who is one of the 
great lions of the established church of England. He 
preached on the observance of the Christian sabbath — 
one of a series of sermons on that subject. He is a 
fine-looking man — tall, erect, and dignified. His elo- 
cution is easy, and his style natural and captivating. 
He is earnest and animated. His voice is superb, and 
he manages it with decided effect. His discourse was 
extemporaneous ; he did not even use notes, and it is 
certain he did not deliver it memoriter. His sermon 
had a political aspect and bearing. I should take him 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 33 

to be a much better speaker than writer. He enjoys a 
fine reputation as a pulpit orator, and attracts immense 
congregations to hear him in his very large and com- 
modious house of worship. 

Liverpool is a large and growing commercial empo- 
rium ; but, with the exception of two or three public 
buildings of great magnificence, the docks, shipping, 
railway-stations, and cemetery, there are but few ob- 
jects that strike the stranger on his first arrival in the 
city. St. George's Hall, which occupies a central and 
commanding site, is a splendid and imposing edifice. 
It is of very grand dimensions, and is in a fine style of 
architecture. One of the largest and most powerful 
organs in the world is in St. George's Hall ; this is 
played frequently for the gratification of the people, 
and, it is said, never fails to attract great crowds to 
hear it. 

Bootblacks and beggars are a great annoyance to 
strangers on their first arrival in Liverpool. It is ob- 
vious also, on the. slightest observation, that there is 
here, as in all great seaports, a very degraded class of 
human beings that in large numbers infest the streets, 
and spread a most debasing moral infection wherever 
they roam at large, without any restraint imposed by 
the police of the city. 

But I must defer any further notice of Liverpool for 
the present, hoping to spend several days here on my 
return from the continent. 



B4 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER II. 

LONDON. 

Arrival in London. — The Novelty. — Keview of the Trip from Liver- 
pool. — Saint Paul's Church. — Service. — Humed Round of Sights 
in the Great Metropolis. — Westminster Abbey. — The New Parlia- 
ment Buildings. — Vernon Picture-Gallery. — The Queen's Stables. 

London, Mar. 3. — The clock on Saint Paul's church, 
which stands just opposite the hotel where we have 
taken lodgings for the night, has just struck eleven ; 
and, though weary with a day's travel, I must write up 
my notes before I retire to rest. I can scarcely realize 
that I am in the very heart of London, the largest city 
in the world, and one that exerts an influence upon all 
the nations of the globe. In London ! about which we 
have all heard something, even in the songs of the nur- 
sery, in the riddles that puzzled our childhood, in the 
primers that we read at a mother's knee, and in the 
jingling rhyme that strangely clings to the memory, not 
without pleasant associations, in more mature years. 
In London ! where Newton, and Milton, and Johnson, 
and Goldsmith, and Shakespeare, and Locke, have all, 
at least temporarily, resided. I can scarcely believe 
that Paternoster Row is only a minute's walk from my 
hotel ; that Cheapside, Hay market, Piccadilly, Charing 
Cross, and the " Old Bailey," are within a half-hour's 
ride ; that Temple Bar, London bridge, the Tower, and 
old Westminster Abbey, may be seen to-morrow. Yes, 
to-morrow, should I live, I may sec them all — see Lon- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 35 

don ; for as yet I have seen nothing except the glitter- 
ing shops in the gaslight ; the flashing carriages, with 
the drivers in livery ; the police-officers in uniform, and 
a living tide of human beings on the sidewalks, as we 
rode through the streets from the railway-station in 
Euston square ; and the soaring dome and solemn old 
towers of Saint Paul's church, as I alighted from the 
cab and entered the hotel. 

This morning, at eleven o'clock, we took an accom 
modation train from Liverpool to London. The ac- 
commodations, in the first-class coaches, are very good. 
Our party, consisting now of five persons — the Rev. 
Dr. Arnett being added to our original party — occu- 
pied one coach. There are six seats in each coach, 
separated by divisions — arranged like the seats in a 
private carriage, so that the passengers sit facing each 
other, three on the rear and three on the front seat. 
We obtained through-tickets for thirty-seven shillings, 
which is about nine dollars. The second class is 
cheaper ; while the fare on the express trains, which 
run through in six hours, is higher than the first class 
on the ordinary or accommodation trains. The dis- 
tance is more than two hundred miles. We preferred 
the accommodation train, as it travels slower, stops 
more frequently, and allows the passengers a better 
opportunity of seeing more of the face of the country 
on the route. Each first-class passenger is allowed to 
carry one hundred pounds of luggage. Our trunks 
were weighed, and placed on the top of the carriage in 
which we were seated. No checks were given for 
them ; nor do the regulations of the road allow a por- 
ter in the employment of the company to receive any 
fee or compensation for moving luggage, or for any 
other attention which it is his duty to pay to the com- 



6o RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

fort and convenience of the traveller. If anything is 
given, it must be done privately, and not in the pres- 
ence of a superior ofificer. 

On leaving the station, which is in the heart of Liv- 
erpool, we immediately entered a tunnel, which runs 
under the city, and which must be considerably over a 
mile in length. The road, through this tunnel, is on au 
inclined plane, and the trains are drawn up by station- 
ary engines. On emerging from the tunnel, and clear- 
ing the suburbs of the city, we found ourselves, at once, 
in the midst of beautiful little farms, which are kept 
like gardens, surrounded by hedges, separating one ten- 
ancy from another — the whole face of the country pre- 
senting a strange and perfectly bewitching picture to 
the eyes of one, accustomed to the great forests, large 
farms, zig-zag fences, and wilder scenery of America. 
I was particularly struck with the country roads and 
highways, which appeared to be perfectly smooth and 
firm ; and with the hedges which were, everywhere, so 
neatly trimmed and trained, and with the high state of 
cultivation which seemed to prevail on every hand. 
Indeed, there was an endless succession of pleasing and 
interesting objects constantly meeting the eye and en- 
gaging the attention. Elegant country residences ; ex- 
te'nsive manufacturing towns and villages; numerous 
canals, covered with boats, the hum of machinery, and 
the busy movements of the cultivators of the soil. At 
one view the whole country appeared like a perfect gar- 
den ; at another, like a vast workshop ; while at another, 
one lost sight of everything else, and only viewed it in 
its agricultural aspects. Farmers were turning over the 
sod ; cutting d£?i'3ins and ditches ; repairing farmhouses ; 
running wicker-work fences, and trimming the hedges. 
In several places we saw females engaged in field 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 37 

labor ; we frequently saw them guiding boats on the 
canals, and in Liverpool we saw them engaged as the 
lowest and filthiest scavengers of the streets. These 
degrading and laborious services, performed by females, 
formed the dark coloring of a fine picture spread before 
me to-day. 

On our route we passed in full view of the residence 
and estate of the Earl of Litchfield. The pile of build- 
ings reminded me of the Smithsonian Institute at Wash- 
ington. We also passed in sight of Stafford Castle, 
and of Tamworth Castle, for some time the residence of 
Sir Robert Peel ; and then we had a view of the Litch- 
field cathedral, with its turrets and towers, standing 
out above all surrounding objects. We passed also in 
this section of country, a convent which occupied a 
lovely sight, and presented a fine appearance. But I 
can not enumerate all the objects of interest that greet- 
ed the eye, and gratified the taste, on our line of travel 
to-day. The whole was novel and exciting to my mind. 
The winding streams, with the green sod down to the 
edge of the clear, quiet waters; the artificial lakes 
fringed mth shrubbery and grass; the smooth and 
snowy paths that wound around the hills ; the thatched 
cottages that nestled in the valleys ; the elegant residen- 
ces of wealthy landlords and the noble church edifices, 
crowned with spires — the finger of man's devotion 
pointing heavenward — all formed a picture that will 
long hang up in the halls of my memory. 

But night set in, and shut out the view. I was fal- 
ling into a sweet nap, when my friend W. aroused me 
by the exclamation: "Look out — here is London." 
And there it was, but seen only in the thousands and 
tens of thousands of gas-lights, that twinkled in the night 
gloom, dispelling the darkness, and throwing an air of 



.33 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

cheerfulness around. In a few moments we were at the 
station, and after a drive of three miles through the 
city we were put down at our hotel. 

Saint Paul's church clock, with its iron tongue, has 
told the midnight hour, and I must retire. 

March 4. — This morning, first of all, our party went 
to Lee's, No. 440, on the Strand, to get our passports 
bound, and to procure such guide-books as may be of 
service to us in our travels. Next to Heywood's, No. 4 
Lombard street, to arrange our money matters for the 
continent. This we did by obtaining a letter of credit, 
which may be used at any of the principal places in 
Europe — drawing any amount of money we may choose 
at any given place. All our necessary arrangements 
being completed, we then devoted our time to sight- 
seeing. 

At a quarter past three o'clock this afternoon we at- 
tended divine service in Saint Paul's — the great cathe- 
dral of the see of London. I revere places consecra- 
ted to religious worship ; and I certainly would not speak 
or write irreverently of divine things; but I must say 
that, up to this day, I never witnessed such a ludicrous 
representation of God's worship as was exhibited in 
Saint Paul's cathedral this afternoon. In my estimation 
it was a shameful and shocking caricature of what the 
Scriptures represent as acceptable religious services in 
the sight of our Maker. I had hoped never to see, any 
people, under a Protestant form of Christianity, guilty 
of such a perversion and abuse of divine worship. Saint 
Paul's would hold a congregation of from ten to twenty 
thousand persons. Only that part of the church called 
the choir, is used on ordinary occasions. This is sepa- 
rated from the main body of the spacious edifice by a 
screen or movable partition. The pulpits are movable 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 39 

and can be placed in different positions to suit the audi- 
ence and the occasion. The choir would hold a thou- 
sand persons. There were not present, this afternoon, 
more than one hundred and fifty — men, women, and 
children. When we entered they were singing one of 
the psalms for the day. On looking round I ascertain- 
ed that, with the exception of some five or six clergy- 
men, and about the same number of gentlemen and 
ladies, no one was engaged in singing besides fifteen 
little boys, ranging from eight to fifteen years of age — 
most of them I should say, less than eleven years of 
age. These I learned, were charity children, specially 
trained for this service. Thoy were handsome little 
boys, and each one wore a perfectly white surplice or 
gown, which gave them a novel, and interesting appear- 
ance. These children sustained the singing, and it was 
delightful. The organ was powerful. The deeper notes 
rolled like thunder through the resounding arches of the 
sublime cathedral, and died away in the distant aisles. 
The lessons were poorly read by some church official. 
Indeed, everything was mechanical and professional. 
There was scarcely the semblance of devotion. But 
that which was the most repugnant to my religious sen- 
sibilities was the intoning or chanting of the prayers 
by the officiating minister, and the singing of the re- 
sponses by the children and congregation. The creed 
was sung ; all the worshippers turning their faces tow- 
ard the altar which occupied the eastern transept of 
the church. But it is what is called the choral cathe- 
dral service ! Where did it originate ? I think it was 
not relished more by my friend, the Rev. Dr. Arnett, 
a Protestant Episcopal minister, than by myself. When 
the responses were given out, which were sung, as before 
observed, some of the clergymen joined in, with no more 



40 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

devotion, apparently, than a sailor manifests when he 
swings to the rope, and unites in the chorus : " Hang, 
boys, hang." That the little boys should perform their 
part as a task, and in a mechanical way, one need not 
be surprised, but that grave and reverend ministers of 
the Gospel should go through the whole service in a 
heartless, and perfunctory way — looking about while 
reading the prayers, and exhibiting signs of listless 
indifference during the most solemn parts of the service, 
excited my profoundest amazement. This, too, in the 
great cathedral of the see of London — and this the reli- 
gious worship of the Established Church of England, 
in the metropolis of the empire ! 

After the service closed, which to me was but little 
better than a solemn mockery and a farce, and which, 
in my estimation, is much better adapted to make men 
infidels than to convert sinners to Jesus Christ, I and 
my party took an exploration ticket, for which we paid 
about one dollar each, and started out upon a survey 
of the vast cathedral itself. And as the day was draw- 
ing to a close, we started first to the topmost part of 
the dome, from which the very best view of London is 
obtained. We had a guide who conducted us through 
two or three apartments as we ascended, and directed 
our attention to the geometrical staircase, and to the 
model-room, which contains Wren's first and favorite 
plan for the rebuilding of the cathedral : to the library, 
and to another large room which contains some old and 
tattered banners, which had been borne in certain great 
civic and military processions. When his part was 
done, he put us on the path of ascent, and told us that 
other guides would receive us as we mounted upward, 
and show us what was worth seeing ; and up, up, up, we 
climbed, until, as we supposed, we were reaching the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 41 

dome, when, to our surprise, we found we had only 
reached the upper part of the southwestern tower of 
the edifice, in which is situated the church-clock. Here 
a female received us, and showed us the great bell of 
the cathedral, on which the hours are struck, and which 
is never tolled except at the deaths and funerals of any 
of the royal family, the bishops of London, the deans 
of St. Paul's, or of the lord-mayor, should he die during 
his mayoralty. We were impatient to get to the dome ; 
but each guide had his round of duties, and his stereo- 
typed speeches to make, and we were compelled to hear 
him through. From the clock-tower we retraced our 
steps for a short distance, and then took a walk of 
nearly a hundred yards, through an upper apartment, 
when we were again taken in hand by another guide, who 
showed us the upward winding way, and gave us direc- 
tions for the next fifty or sixty feet of the ascent. We 
reached a point whore we were called by another guide, 
and, passing through a small door, we found ourselves 
in the whispering gallery, which occupies an elevated 
pofciilon in the dome. We were directed to walk round 
the gallery, which is constructed on the inner surface 
of the dome, to a point opposite that occupied by the 
guide, that he might show us its surprising power. On 
reaching the point designated, we were requested to 
take our seats, and place our ears against the wall. 
We did so : whereupon he commenced giving us the 
history of the building of the cathedral, which he nar- 
rated in a whieper that could not have been heard ten 
feet from him, and yet, at the whole distance of the 
diameter of the dome, which is at least one hundred 
feet, we heard every syllable distinctly. In concluding 
he spoke of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of the 
wonderful building, and proposed the question : ''Do 



42 RANDOM. SKETCHES AND 

you ask for his monument ?" to wliicli he replied, " cir- 
cumspice'^ — look around. We again commenced the as- 
cent, being advised that we were not yet half way to the 
ball on the dome. Another guide led the way, which 
now became narrow and difficult of ascent. We began 
to climb steps that were nearly perpendicular. At 
length we had to leave our hats and overcoats, and creep 
through holes and passages that would barely admit one 
at a time. The guide stopped, and told us to go on. 
At last we reached a point beyond which we could 
proceed no farther ; and here we seated ourselves, 
in the hall on the top of the dome, four hundred and 
four feet above the pavement ; a ball which, from the 
street below, does not look to be larger than a flour- 
barrel. 

On our descent we paused on some of the outer gal- 
leries surrounding the base of the dome, from which 
we got a view, as far as the smoke would allow us to 
see, of the great city of London. The Thames, cov- 
ered, with boats, passing and repassing, presenting a 
picture of animation, was seen winding through the 
wilderness of houses, spanned by numerous bridges, 
and stretching away until it was lost in the dusky 
atmosphere that for ever hangs over its bosom. Some 
of the streets could be traced for miles, crowded with 
cabs, omnibuses, carts, drays, and elegant carriages, 
and the ever-moving tide of living human beings, that 
rolls with unbroken volume through the business chan- 
nels of London. Above the even and monotonous rows 
of houses could be seen the steeples and spire of al- 
most countless churches ; the swelling domes, and mas- 
sive towers of public buildings; the statue-crowned 
summits of monumental columns and pillars, and the 
tall, tapering chimneys of the numerous manufacturing 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 43 

establishments scattered over all that portion of the 
city within the scope of vision. The city^ properly, 
is comparatively small ; but what is called London, 
through which continuously-paved streets extend, is 
full twelve or fourteen miles in length, and from six to 
ten miles in width. It has grown and pushed out its 
limits, until all the smaller towns that formerly sur- 
rounded it, have been absorbed and swallowed up, and 
now have almost entirely lost their names. It is Lon- 
don everywhere ; and still it enlarges, and pushes out 
its boundaries into the regions around, and no one can 
set limits to its ultimate progress and extent.. 

We descended into the vaults beneath the massive 
body of the church, and in these silent and gloomy 
apartments, shut out from the light of day, and from 
the noise and bustle of the city, we walked over and 
around the tombs of such men as Sir Christopher Wren, 
the architect of the building ; of Benjamin West, the 
artist ; of Bishop Newton, the author of the work on the 
prophecies ; of Rennie and Mylne, architects, and of 
many other distinguished men, not unknown to fame. In 
another apartment we saw the tomb and monument of 
Lord Nelson, and the one now constructing, on a splendid 
scale, over the remains of the Duke of Wellington. In 
the principal body of this sublime edifice there are mon- 
uments and epitaphs to such men as Romney, Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, Lord Cornwallis, and a host of other great 
names that time would fail me to enumerate. 

St. Paul's Cathedral is a stupendous building. It is 
in the form of the Latin cross, and is five hundred feet 
in length, from east to west, and two hundred and fifty 
feet in its greatest width ; there are also lateral pro- 
jections at the west end of the nave, the design of 
which is to give width and importance to the west front. 



44 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

The campanile towers which surmount the lateral pro- 
jections are two hundred and twenty-two feet, and the 
height of the whole structure, from the pavement in the 
street to the top of the cross, is four hundred and four 
feet. Thirty-five years were occupied in its erection, 
and yet the whole work was completed under the eye 
of one architect, Sir Christopher Wren, and under 
one master-mason, Mr. Thomas Strong, and while one 
bishop. Dr. Henry Compton, presided over the diocese. 
The whole cost verged on four millions of dollars, 
which enormous sum of money was raised by a tax 
levied on .every chaldron of coal brought into the port 
of London. 

In the evening we visited the Polytechnic Institute, 
in Regent street, and heard two interesting lectures, 
witnessed an experiment with the diving-bell , and saw 
some of the most enchanting dissolving scenes that can 
easily be imagined, together with an exhibition of about 
three thousand specimens of art. Among other things, 
we actually saw a man spinning glass into a fine, beau- 
tiful thread, and putting it up in plats and skeins, which 
he offered for sale at two pence a parcel. 

One of the lectures was by Mr. F. Lenox Howe, a 
serio-comical musical lecture, on the use and abuse of 
art, demonstrating the errors in popular taste concern- 
ing Italian and English "singing, with vocal and dra- 
matic illustrations. It was a most cutting and scathing 
take-off on modern fashionable singing. 

March 5. — The sights of this day are too numerous 
to write up to-night. On my return to London, in the 
summer, when I shall have more time to devote to the 
objects of attraction and interest in and around the 
great metropolis, I shall be able to furnish more accu- 
rate and detailed accounts of what is worthy of notice. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 45 

Westminster Abbey claimed a first visit this morning. 
What a tide of associations rushed upon my mind as I 
entered the dingy, gloomy old pile ! It links the re- 
mote past of English history with the present. It is at 
once a sepulchre and a sanctuary. Here the kings and 
queens of England have been crowned, from Edward 
the Confessor to Queen Victoria ; and here the inscrip- 
tions on monument and tomb tell where most of them 
moulder in the dust. My introduction to the Abbey 
was in the " Poet's Corner," which occupies nearly one 
half of the south transept of the building. Here my 
eyes were greeted with the tombs and honorary monu- 
ments of such men as Spenser, Chaucer, Shakespeare, 
and Milton ; of Dryden, Butler, Gray, and Goldsmith. 
Here are life-sized statues and sculptured busts : some 
grave, some gay. Some in good taste, some decidedly 
bad. We have the shocking and irreverent epitaph 
over the monument of John Gray, author of the Beg- 
gar's Opera, " Life is a Jest^'' &c. ; and others, in 
poetry or rhyme, quite as much out of place as a jest 
at a funeral, or a ghastly corpse amid the gay scenes 
of a festive circle. 

One lingers here with a strange pleasure, tinged with 
melancholy, and communes with the magic bards whose 
verse has been bequeathed as a rich legacy to our clas- 
sic literature — recalling touching strains that still 
have an echo in the halls of memory, sad and plaintive 
as a dirge-like requiem for the dead. 

Leaving the '' Poet's Corner," we joined a party, under 
the direction of one of the guides connected with the 
Abbey, and commenced the regular round of exploration 
and survey. The various chapels, occupying the re- 
cesses of the irregular interior, were visited in their 
order, and the Guide, in each, repeated his stereotyped 



4G RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

speech, pointing out the tombs, effigies and monuments 
of the illustrious dead, interspersing his remarks with 
stale anecdotes, and sickly attempts at witty sayings. 
The chapel of the " Virgin Mary," called also Henry 
VII. 's chapel, interested me quite as much as any of 
these repositories of the ashes of English royalty. It 
is entered by a flight of steps, through oaken gates, 
overlaid with gilt, and wrought into various devices ; 
*' The portcullis exhibiting the descent of the founder 
from the Beaufort family, and the crown and twisted 
roses, the union that took place on Henry's marriage, 
of the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lan- 
caster." In this chapel, formerly, the knights of the 
garter were installed. It contains the monuments 
and altar-tombs, with effigies of Henry VII. and his 
queen ; of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother 
of Henry VII. ; of the mother of Lord Darnley, hus- 
band of Mary, Queen of Scots ; of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
erected by James L, who brought his mother's body 
from Peterborough cathedral and interred it here ; and 
of Queen Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who, though 
bitter enemies and rivals in life, sleep in undisturbed 
repose in the same grave. Having completed the tour 
of the chapels, we were turned out in the open parts of 
the building to make such observations as our respective 
tastes or other circumstances might dictate. And here 
we found ourselves surrounded by colossal statues, 
recumbent figures, inscribed gravestones, honorary 
monuments, and highly-ornamented tombs, commemo- 
rating the deeds and perpetuating the memories of emi- 
nent statesmen, celebrated poets, distinguished scholars, 
noted philosophers, and illustrious divines ; of coura- 
geous warriors, bold adventurers on the sea, talented 
musicians, and gifted actors and actresses : admirals, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 47 

earls, and dukes ; generals, knights, and prelates ; 
men of peace and men of blood ; tyrants and despots ; 
philanthropists and public benefactors, all lay com- 
mingled around. No angry word came from the lips of 
the disappointed aspirant of fame ; no sound of the 
battle-axe or other deadly weapon rang through the 
silent chambers of the dead ; no heart, filled with mal- 
ice and revenge, beat beneath the mouldering shroud; 
no arm, clothed with wrath, was lifted to strike a fellow- 
man ; no decaying form stalked in pride and lofty dis- 
dain among the pulseless sleepers in the tomb. Almost 
every name that met the eye touched some link in the 
chain of association, and the magnetic current, running 
like lightning through the whole chain of conscious 
existence, waked up and galvanized into activity a 
thousand thoughts that seemed to have been long dead 
and buried in the memory. The names of such men as 
Addison, Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Butler, Watt, Sir 
Humphrey Davy, Pitt, Wilberforce, Grattan, Fox, Bar- 
row, South, Ben Jonson, Macpherson, Thomas Camp- 
bell, Major Andre, Blow, Handel, Garrick, and a host 
of others, familiar to every one, each had its associ- 
ations, and awakened recollections that were as pleas- 
ant and mournful as the shadowy remembrance of a 
sweet dream of childhood. 

A ramble through tlie gloomy cloisters and humid 
cells, adjoining and forming a part of the buildings, and 
a cursory glance at the time-worn gravestones in St. 
Margaret's churchyard concluded my first visit to the 
venerable old abbey, which must ever be a chief object 
of interest and curiosity to the stranger in London. 

The new parliament buildings stand in the immediate 
vicinity of Westminster Abbey. These have already 
been sixteen years in progress of erection, and it will 



48 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

require full sixteen more to complete them, according 
to the original plan of the immense structure. The 
hall of the House of Peers was opened in 1847. It is 
a brilliant and commodious apartment, and contains the 
throne on which her Majesty sits when, in person, she 
opens, prorogues, or dissolves Parliament, with the 
splendid chairs provided for the Prince of Wales and 
Prince Albert, and the Woolsack, in the centre of the 
hall, on which the lord-chancellor sits, as president, 
while the House of Lords is in session. The hall of 
the House of Commons, is not so large, nor is it finished 
with the same elegance and splendor as the House of 
Peers. The towers which rise in majestic grandeur 
from difi'erent angles and parts of the buildings are 
slowly progressing toward completion, and when finish- 
ed, in all the detail of the plan on which they are pro- 
jected, they will form magnificent appendages to the 
imposing edifice. The external masonry is principally 
of magnesian limestone. The river terrace is of Ab- 
erdeen granite. The principal beams and joists are of 
iron, and it is said the Houses of Parliament can never 
be burnt down again. The buildings front on the 
Thames, the splendid facade extending nine hundred 
feet, and the whole establishment covers an area of 
nearly eight acres. So say the guides, and they seem 
to be will posted in dates, dimensions, and all such 
little matters, which they narrate, in set phrase, and 
with a gravity that clearly indicates the importance 
which they attach to their commission. A stranger can 
not inspect the hall of the House of Peers even when 
the house is not sitting, without an order from the lord 
great chamberlain, nor the House of Commons without 
a member's order. Americans- generally gain admit- 
tance to see the buildings, or to be present at the de- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 49 

bates, by obtaining a ticket from the resident American 
embassador, who has the liberty of granting two seats in 
the galleries of each house, at the daily sittings. 

We made a pleasant visit also to the Vernon Picture 
Gallery, now open at the Marlborough House, where 
we saw some fine paintings ; and, on the premises, had 
a view of the splendid funeral car used on the occasion 
of the obsequies of the Duke of Wellington. This 
gallery is kept open, in an extensive suite of apartments, 
at the personal expense of some liberal patron of the 
fine arts, whose name and title have escaped my mem- 
ory. Anybody may visit the exhibition without fee or 
perquisite, and enjoy the paintings, in rooms comfort- 
ably warmed and seated, as though the apartments were 
his own. 

Having been favored with tickets of admittance to 
the queen's stables by the polite and obliging secretary 
of the American legation, our party paid a visit to 
this interesting establishment, which closed our round 
of sight-seeing for the day. On the presentation of our 
tickets, we were received, by a liveried official, with as 
much ceremony as if we were on the point of a pres- 
entation to her royal Majesty. At each separate de- 
partment of the stables, we were taken in hand by a 
new official, and thus conducted through the halls, 
passages, parlors, bed-rooms, bathing and dressing apart- 
ments of the royal stud. The name of each horse was at- 
tached to the end of each stall, in large characters ; 
and, as we passed along, the grooms pointed out the 
favorite saddle-horses of the queen, and expatiated at 
large upon their qualities. The gray ponies struck me 
as being about the most perfect specimens of horseflesh 
I have ever seen. There are one hundred and thirty 
head, all together kept by thirty grooms ; and any one 

3 



60 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

who is an admirer of fine horses, will be amply repaid 
for a visit to the queen's stables. We were also shown 
the queen's carriages, with the harness, which, with the 
exception of the state-carriage, are not finer than many 
of the first class of public carriages to be met with in 
our large and fashionable cities. The state-carriage is 
a heavy, massive establishment. It was finished in 
1761. The design was by William Chambers, and the 
work was executed under his direction. The paintings 
on the doors, panels, etc., were done by Cypriani. The 
body is richly ornamented with beautifully gilt laurel 
and carved work, the length is twenty-four feet, width 
eight feet, height twelve feet, and the whole weight four 
tons. 

Any further notice of what I saw in London must bo 
deferred until my return, during the approaching sum- 
mer. To-morrow we leave for Paris. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 51 



CHAPTER III. 



A FEW DAYS IN PARIS. 



From London to Paris. — Grand Hotel du Louvre, — French Coflfee. — 
Preparations for Travel. — Learning to Speak French. — An Amu- 
t:ing Incident. — French Politeness. — Surface Views. — A Day's 
Work in Sight-Seeing. — The Morgue. — Notre Dame. — The Louvre. 

— Its Paintings and Museums. — Bois de Boulogne. — Stroll through 
the Gardens of the Tuileries. — Sunday in Paris. — The Madeleine. — 
Wesleyan Chapel. — Champs Elys6es. — Champs de Mars. — Hotel 
des Invalides. — Abattoirs. — Pere la Chaise. — Jardin des Plantes. 

— Baby Clothes. 

Paris, March 6. — To-day we came from London to 
tliis great metropolis of fashion, gayety, and amusement. 
It has been a most delightful day's travel. From Lon- 
don to Folkestone, a distance of eighty-three miles, we 
travelled by rail, in two hours. Starting, as we did, a 
little before daylight, and finding a well-cushioned, fir&1>- 
class coach a comfortable place for a morning nap, I 
saw but little of the face of the country until we got 
near to Folkestone. Refreshed by a good breakfast we 
took a small steamboat across the channel to Boulogne. 
The white cliffs of Dover sunk away behind us, while 
the coasts of France were rising to our view. In two 
hours we were at Boulogne. Here our trunks were 
overhauled by customhouse officers, and our passports 
examined. Customhouse examinations are a great 
annoyance to travellers ; but the better plan is to take 
it coolly. Show a good free will: assist in opening 
your trunk ; take out the tray, and be ready to show 



52 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

more than is expected, and your packages will pass 
with a very partial examination. But hold back ; 
speak a little short and crusty ; exhibit reluctance or 
impatience, and they will put you through on the long 
plan. Most of the baggage at Boulogne was passed 
over with a very slight examination. If any contra- 
band article was discovered, which excited the least 
suspicion that an effort was made to conceal it, in- 
stantly everything was subjected to a most careful scru- 
tiny. A lady's trunk, large and well-packed, was next 
to my own ; at the bottom several bundles of new 
stockings were found. The officer began to pull them 
out. Pair after pair came to light. He got his arms 
full, and then commenced comiting them, in a loud 
voice : " Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, 
neuf, dix, onze, douze, treze, quatorze, and on to more 
than twenty pairs. " Mon dieul combien?^^ he ex- 
claimed. The chief officer looked at them, shrugged 
up his shoulders, and let them pass. But every article 
in the lady's trmik was turned out, from every crevice 
and corner, and the whole exposed to the prying eyes 
of porters and officials. As soon as the trunks were 
passed they were pulled aside by females, who put them 
on hand-carts, and hastened off with them to the rail- 
road terminus, v/here they were booked for Paris. 

A through ticket, first-class, from London to Paris, 
by way of Folkestone and Boulogne, costs about thir- 
teen dollars. A second-class ticket is much cheaper. 
The time of departure from London and Paris for each 
day, is arranged in reference to the tide in the channel, 
so that there needs be no detention on account of low 
water. This is now the principal line of travel be- 
tween these tv>^o largest cities in the world, though the 
regular mail line is still by Dover and Calais. There 



NOTES OF EUEOPEAN TRAVEL. 53 

are, also, other daily lines : one by Southampton and 
Havre, and another by Brighton and Dieppe. 

From Boulogne to Paris the route lies tlu'ough one 
of the finest agricultural districts of Fra,nce. It so far 
exceeded all my expectations, in every respect, that my 
mind was agreeably regaled all the time, with the rapid 
succession of pleasing objects that met the eye. The 
farms are in the highest state of cultivation ; and every- 
where, as we passed along, we saw the ploughmen in 
the fields, and the husbandmen pruning vines, and pre- 
paring their lands for the approaching planting season. 
An air of thrift, happiness, and prosperity, seemed 
everywhere to prevail. I know that appearances are 
deceptive ; and one can form no correct idea of the 
state of a country or community, by a rapid flight 
through it on a railroad, at the rate of forty miles per 
hour. All he can know is, whether it pleases the eye, 
and whether there is the appearance of productiveness 
and plenty. Of the social condition of the people, of 
their possessions, and the extent to which their wants 
are supplied, he can know nothing. We everywhere 
saw females engaged in outdoor work. This never 
comports with our ideas of a high degree of cultivation, 
or refinement. 

We got to Paris just at the close of the day, and 
after some detention for another slight rumaging of our 
trmiks, we got off, and a drive of some three miles 
through the city, sparkling with gas-light, and crowded 
with foot-passengers and carriages, landed us in the 
court of the Grand Hotel du Louvre. A little parley 
about the apartments we were to occupy ensued, as a 
sort of matter of course, but in a short time we were 
comfortably quartered in pleasant rooms on the troisieme 
etage. 



04 EANDOM SKETCHES AND 

This is a magnificent hotel. It is new, having been 
opened but a few months, and everything is clean, com- 
fortable, and inviting. It is upon an immense scale. 
having more than a thousand rooms. It is the largest 
hotel in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. 
It differs from a first-class American hotel in that it 
has no public parlors. The furniture is elegant, and 
the adornments of the rooms splendid and attractive ; 
but in none of these regards does it sm^pass some of our 
new hotels in New York, 

After a little walk upon the Rue Rivoli, on which 
the hotel stands, we enjoyed a good supper in the res- 
taurant of our hotel, which consisted, principally, of 
beefsteak, eggs, and cafe au lait. And such coffee ! 
It was a perfect cordial. Strong as brandy, mellow as 
a June apple, and delicious as nectar. For five years I 
have not indulged in more than two or three cups of 
cofi'ee till to-day. The French can beat us cooking. 
They have no equals in the world in the cuisine. But 
it is midnight, and I must stop for to-night. 

March 6. — To-day has been principally occupied in 
preparing to leave for Italy. Our intention was to leave 
in the morning, but having learned that we can not 
reach Marseilles mitil sometime in the day on Sunday, 
we have declined leaving until next week. We want 
the Lord of the Sabbath to go with us, and protect us. 
AVe can not, therefore, consistently violate his holy law, 
and still look for his kind protecting care. It will 
throw us back a little, and prevent our reaching Rome 
as early as we anticipated ; but this is matter of but 
little consequence, in comparison with the preservation 
of a good conscience. 

We obtained, in London, after the vise of the 
American minister, the vises of the French. Sardinian, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 65 

Austrian, and Prussian ministers on our passports. In 
this city we found it necessary, before we could leave 
for Italy, to obtain, in addition to the above-mentioned, 
the vise of the American minister, that of the prefect 
of the police of the city of Paris, and also that of the 
pope's nuncio residing in this city. We completed our 
preparations by employing a courier to travel with us. 
He can speak French, Italian, and English, and his 
business is to take care of our baggage, get our tickets, 
procure conveyances, make contracts, pay our bills, do 
our quarrelling, and act as our guide in sight-seeing, as 
far as he may be able. He has frequently been over 
the ground, and we hope to find him useful. Suderie 
is his name, and he is a downright clever-looking fellow. 
Time must prove him. Nous verrons. 

A knowledge of the French language, and a general 
acquaintance with its literature, such as is acquired 
in our schools, and in reading French authors, does 
not enable one to sj^eak the language, nor even to 
understand it as spoken by the French. The collo- 
quial use of the language can only be acquired by con- 
versation with those who speak it. A man may read 
the French easily — he may be extensively acquainted 
with French authors, and yet he may not be able to 
make himself understood by a shopkeeper, nor to under- 
stand the simplest sentence from the lips of a garcon in 
a cafe, or a cocher in the streets. But, with such a 
knowledge of the language, he will rapidly acquire its 
colloquial use, if he has the courage to blunder away, 
on all occasions, in his attempts to speak it. He will 
make some capital mistakes, and perpetrate some fun- 
ny collocations of words and sentences ; but he will 
improve every hour. If one knows the names of things, 
and is pretty well acquainted with the vocabulary of 



56 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the language, the best way in the world to leam to speak 
it is, to go into shops where they do not understand a 
word of English, and commence asking the names of 
articles and the prices, and make some small purchases ; 
then take a cabman, and drive about the city for an 
hour, and then settle with him for his services without 
an interpreter ; then go into restaurants and cafes and 
hear persons order refreshments, and attempt it your- 
self; then ramble about the streets, and inquire for cer- 
tain places and objects of curiosity ; then get lost, and 
ask at every corner the way to your hotel. By adopt- 
ing a plan not unlike this, one who has a tolerable ac- 
quaintance with the vocabulary of the French language, 
will, in a very short time, be able to use it for his im- 
mediate practical purposes. 

An amusing incident took place to-day. One of our 
party knows nothing of the French, except a few words 
and phrases which he has picked up in the last few 
days. He has the faculty, however, of catching a 
form of expression very readily, and has no hesitation 
in putting it into requisition as occasion may demand. 
On entering a shop to-day for the purpose of purcha- 
sing a small trunk, he fixed his eye on the article that 
suited him, and then turned to his friend for the ques- 
tion, " What is the price ?" In the hurry to give 
him, " Quel est le prix ?" he gave him, by a slip of the 
tongue. — "Quelle heureest il?" — "What hour is it?'* 
or, " What is the time of day ?" Of course it surprised 
the shopkeeper ; but the French never laugh at the 
most ludicrous blunders and mistakes of the English, 
in their attempts to speak their language : on the con- 
trary they patiently and politely listen to you, and help 
you to words and forms of expression. In this case 
the one who supplied the question instantly discovered 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 57 

his mistake, and corrected it, but not without a hearty 
laugh at his own blunder. This is but a specimen. 
Others equally ludicrous occurred. 

Every one must be struck with French politeness, on 
his first introduction to Paris. If one jostles you in 
the street, he smiles, and bows, and says "Par^aw," so 
apologetically, and so politely that you could excuse 
him if he had trod on your corns or knocked off your 
hat. If you buy the smallest article from a grisette in 
a shop or at a window, when you pay her, she says 
" mercie^^ with such a winning smile, and in a tone so 
bland and dove-like, that you really feel like buying 
something else. If you ask any one in the streets or 
at a shop-door the way to the Madeleine, to Notre Dame, 
to the Boulevards, or to your hotel, he will not only 
tell you, but will probably walk a square or two with 
you, to put you in the right direction. First impressions 
here are favorable and pleasant. Everything has a 
cheerful aspect, and everybody seems to be gay and 
happy. There may be, and doubtless is, an immense 
amount of the most shocking and degrading forms of 
immorality in Paris, but it does not show itself in the 
streets. No one will see it, at least in its grosser forms, 
unless he goes in pursuit of it. There is far less that 
is immodest, vulgar, coarse, and profane, with, per- 
haps, one individual exception, in the streets of Paris, 
than meets the eye in the streets and public places 
of New York, Liverpool, or London. There are all 
the outward forms and appearances of the highest 
degree of decorum, modesty, and chastity. Nor is there 
any annoyance from beggars here. I have not seen one 
in the streets. Indeed, no one is allowed to beg public- 
ly. It is not a matter of surprise that strangers, 
generally, are pleased with Paris. Surface views are all 



58 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

prepossessing. The glittering shops on the Boulevards^ 
and the gay and fashionable groups that linger at the 
show-windows or saunter on the sidewalks ; the shin- 
ing and flashing carriages, with beautiful horses, spark- 
ling harness, and servants in livery, rolling noiselessly 
over the marble-like pavement, with the gayest of the 
fair sex, magnificently attired, reclining in a sort of 
luxurious indolence upon the richly-embroidered cush- 
ions ; the swarms of happy faces that meet the eye in 
the public gardens, and on the Champs Elysees ; the 
thousands of curious and attractive articles everywhere 
exhibited for sale, and the novel and ingenious con- 
trivances to make money, all have a charm, that invest 
the great city with a fascination that amounts almost 
to an enchantment. This day has glided away like a 
pleasant vision of the night. A thousand new and 
strange things have crowded in upon my mind ; and in 
turning to my memory for a register of what I have 
seen, it presents the spectacle of a shivered mirror, 
each separate fragment reflecting an image of its own. 
But there is lead on my eyelids, and I nod over my 
journal, deep after midnight. 

March 8. — I have seen quite too much to-day to 
journalize to-night. Much must be deferred until my 
return to Paris, at a later period in the season. 

If the reader will accompany me and my party, I will 
show him round, and point out, cursorily, some of the 
interesting objects that we saw to-day, in a partial and 
hurried survey of a limited number of the sights of Paris. 

Let us take a small cab, with four seats, at one franc 
per hour, taking care to say distinctly to the cabman, 
before starting, that we employ him by the hour. 

Paris stands on the river Seine, as London does on 
the Thames. The course of the Thames is, from west 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 59 

to east ; the course of the Seine is, from east to west. 
Both are windiug in their course. Numerous bridges, 
broad and substantial, connect the two sides of these 
rivers. In Paris, the two great divisions of the city 
are known as, " this side,^^ and " the other side.''^ We 
are on " this side." 

Let us drive first to the Morgue^ a dirty, damp, for- 
bidding-looking old building, that stands on the bank 
of the river, in which the dead bodies of such as liave 
committed suicide, or otherwise have come suddenly to 
their death in the streets, or in the river, are exposed, 
in a state of nudity, for identification by their friends. 
Crowds are pressing round, and peeping in at a loath- 
some corpse, on wdiich a stream of water is constantly 
trickling. One look is enough. No mere stranger will 
be likely to repeat his visit. 

We again take our cab, and a drive of a few minutes 
up the river, puts us down at the door of Notre Dame. 
An old blind man sits beneath the archway of entrance, 
and shakes a tin box, in which a few sous make a clat- 
tering sound, but he says not a word. You will not 
pass him without making a response to this appeal of 
suffering humanity. We enter the gloomy old catlie- 
dral,- which presents no very brilliant and dazzling 
spectacle to the eye. It is large, and has a time-worn 
rock-floor, quite as rough as the pavement in the streets. 
Scores and hundreds — principally aged females, kneel 
upon the bare stones, and mutter their prayers, while a 
few priests, in their robes, minister at the altars or listen 
to the penitents who whisper the words of confession in 
their ears. A sprightly little boy, who can speak Eng- 
lish very well, offers his services as a guide. The 
beadle unlocks the doors of the chapels and private 
apartments, and we are shown the robes in which Louis 



60 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Philippe and the Emperor Napoleon the First were 
crowned, and an endless number of jewels, and other 
curious trinkets, each one of which, if the guides may 
be believed, has its own history, which is worth repeat- 
ing to every visiter. There are tombs, paintings, alto- 
relievo representations of interesting events in the life 
of Christ, Gobelein tapestry, and elaborate carved work 
in oak, and many other things to engage the attention 
as one makes the circuit of the interior. But that 
which most occupies the mind is, the historic associ- 
ations connected with this vast cathedral. A limited 
reference to those thrilling and startling events would 
fill a volume. We pause a moment on retiring to take 
a survey of the exterior. The portals are ornamented 
with sculptured imagery, representing the scenes of the 
last judgment, and bas-reliefs, representing events in 
the lives of the patriarchs, together with statues of the 
Virgin and child, of prophets, apostles, and martyrs. 
At the west end there are two lofty towers, of similar 
construction, which were designed to be surmounted 
with spires, a work that has never been completed. 
The whole is one of the best-executed works of the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but it can not be said 
to be particularly imposing in point of architectural 
elegance or finish. The western front is its most at- 
tractive feature. 

Retracing our course, a drive of ten minutes down 
the river, will place us in front of the entrance to the 
Louvre, and as we shall spend several hours here in the 
galleries of painting and statuary, we will dismiss our 
cab, for we are in a stone's cast of our hotel. 

Let us enter first the vast halls and apartments de- 
voted to Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, on the 
ground floor. These extend for many hundreds of feet.. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 61 

and are replete with interest to the student of antiqui- 
ties. Fragments of pillars, columns, and monumental 
stones, covered with hieroglyphics, and strange, half- 
defaced characters, meet the eye at every step ; while 
the mutilated colossal statues, and enormous sphynx 
heads ; and huge, sculptured monsters, of the most 
gigantic proportions, excite our wonder on every hand. 
We shall attempt no detailed description of the number- 
less objects of curiosity and instruction in these depart- 
ments of the Louvre. 

We will now return to the place where we first en- 
tered, and ascend a long flight of marble steps, which 
lands us on the second floor ; and here we will com- 
mence an exploration of the extensive and numerous 
apartments of this stupendous structure, devoted to the 
preservation of objects of interest, and to the promotion 
of the fine arts. First, we traverse a continuous suite 
of apartments in which are carefully preserved, in glass 
cases, a great number and variety of souvenirs of Na- 
poleon the First. These have been collected and depos- 
ited in this museum under the direction of the present 
Emperor, Napoleon the Third. Here we find articles 
of wearing-apparel, swOrds, pistols, saddles, camp-beds, 
and bedding, table-ware, and hundreds of other person- 
al articles, which were used by the uncle of the present 
Louis Napoleoji, during his campaigns, from the time 
of his first battle until his death in the lonely island of 
his exile. 

From these rooms we pass through resounding hall* 
and elegantly-carved ebony passage-ways, and enter the 
Salon Carre, which is one of the most elaborately deco- 
rated apartments of the Louvre, and contains, it is said, 
the gems of the vast assemblage of paintings congre- 
gated in this palace cf the fine arts. If you are weary. 



62 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and wish to feast yonr eyes on the beautiful paintings 
so admirably arranged around you, take a seat on the 
soft velvet divans that occupy the centre of the room, 
and enjoy the banquet spread out so temptingly before 
you. You will be struck here, with the large number 
of artists, young and old, male and female, who are en- 
gaged in copying the most celebrated pictures of this 
select apartment. Yonder is a young girl, transferring 
to canvass, a very beautiful copy of a choice painting 
that hangs coyly in the corner. She has a pale face 
and a delicate white hand, and looks more as if she were 
working for bread, than merely to gratify the aspira- 
tions of her genius. Not far from her, there sits on a 
}iigh stool a calm, dignified, grayheaded old lady, with 
her silvery locks shading a full, well-formed forehead, 
giving the last touches to a bewitchingly lovely copy 
of a piece that would bring the color to the cheeks of 
modest persons, unaccustomed to the exhibitions of ex- 
tensive picture-galleries. There stands a young man — 
he wears the expression of a highly-gifted artist ; the 
cast of his face is exquisite — his flashing eye is raised 
to the painting before him, and then falls upon his can- 
vass, while his pencil disposes, in rapid succession, the 
light and shade that bring out, in captivating lines of 
beauty, the half-faded picture from the hand of an old 
master, that has no beauty in itself to the uncultivated 
and unpractised eye. I must confess to it, that many 
of the copies which I saw pleased me far more than 
Juhe dim and faded originals. 

But let us pass on. We enter the Long Gallery, 
which extends nearly a quarter of a mile before us, in 
one single apartment, running east and west, and look- 
ing out on the Seine. "We enter at the east end, and 
commence a hurried survey of the almost numberless 



KOTES OP EUROPEAN TRA\KL. 63 

paintiugs that line the walls on both sides from tlie floor 
to the high ceiling, and extending, continuously, from 
end to end. Here we have arranged, in regular order, 
large collections of paintings, representing the older 
Italian, Flemish, Spanish, G-erman, and French schools. 
A. single visit only leaves a confused recollection of 
these specimens of art in the mind, and I must defer 
any further notice of them until I can make a more 
leisurely survey. But after all I am no connoisseur, and 
can only say what pleases me, without being able to 
assign any very satisfactory reason for it. 

Let us glance round, and hasten on through the Hall 
of Jewels, and peep into the Hall of Bronzes, and 
range through the Museums of Design, the Marine-gallery, 
and the gallery of engravings, and more than a dozen 
others, devoted to the various departments of art, 
science, and literature ; and then, descending into the 
open court of the immense quadrangular building, let 
us cross over to the extensive apartments, on the ground 
floor, devoted to statuary, ancient and modern. I am 
fond of statuary. I like it far better than painting. 
To me, there is a strange and mysterious charm that 
invests an exquisitely-chiseled piece of marble, repre- 
senting the human form. Even the plaster-casts of fine 
originals often delight me ; but the snowy marble, from 
the hand of a great creative genius, absolutely intoxi- 
cates me with pleasurable emotions. Five halls are 
devoted to modern sculpture, while several other large 
divisions are occupied with mutilated and imperfect 
pieces, recovered from ancient villas, and the long- 
buried ruins of palace-halls, baths, and public build- 
ings, brought to light by the research and investigation 
of the last century. In one of these divisions we find 
the world-renowned Venus de 3Iilo, which is regarded 



64 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

as one of the most beautiful and valuable discoveries, 
in its way, of modern times. 

But time would fail me to notice the contents of one 
in ten of these halls. We have spent three or four 
hours in this hasty ramble through the Louvre, and have 
merely glanced at its invaluable treasures ; but it has 
prepared us for subsequent visits, when we may be able 
to make a more minute and satisfactory survey, and 
furnish a more connected and detailed account of the 
vast collections, illustrative of art and science, which 
the French government has here thrown open, without 
charge or perquisite to the whole world. The only 
remunerative return for this immense expenditure and 
outlay, is, in the large sums of money expended by 
strangers in Paris, who are drawn hither by the at- 
tractions which are thus held out to all nations. 

Late this afternoon, I and my compagnons de voyage 
took a drive out to the Bois de Boulogne, which lies 
about two miles from the western gate of Paris. It 
would be fruitless to attempt a description of this drive. 
This wood is approached by a road skirted with grounds 
which are constantly under the eyes and hands of skil- 
ful landscape-gardeners. On entering the forest growth, 
most of which is comparatively young, the most beauti- 
fully-graded roads and paths diverge from the main 
route, and sweep off in graceful curves, losing them- 
selves in the woods. The winding ways are fringed 
with a lacework of wire, and ornamented with arbors, 
bowers, and shrubbery. Proceeding down the road, 
along which hundreds and I may safely say thousands, 
of the finest vehicles were passing, suddenly the quiet 
and lovely lakes broke upon our eyes — these, with 
their islands, sinuous shores, and shining waters, sleep- 
ing everywhere in placid beauty, except where they 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 65 

were broken into ripples and dimples by the musical dip 
of the oars of boatmen who rowed merry little parties 
across to the islands, or on larger excursions up and 
down the lakes. On the islands there were cottages 
and alcoves that looked like the homes of fairies ; 
while the sweet and snowy paths that lay along the 
shores, and wound around the hills, and down into the 
hidden grottoes and caves, looked like the haunts of 
naiads and elves. At one turn of the road two beauti- 
ful cascades burst upon the view. The stream that 
throws them into the lake comes leaping out from the 
woods, and seems to rejoice in finding greater freedom 
than was allowed by its overhanging banks ajid narrow 
channel. At the lower end of the lakes the road 
reaches a higher elevation than at any other point, 
from which there are some most picturesque and en- 
chanting vista-views, stretching away to distant hills, 
and streams, and dreamy dells, and quiet country-houses. 
But it is folly to attempt a description, and I forbear. 

But the whole of this water scenery is artificial. The 
lakes are excavated, and are supplied with water from 
a distant point. The jagged rocks that give variety to 
the shore have been brought from other localities and 
piled up in their places, as though they had been tossed 
there by the hand of nature, in some wild and playful 
freak. The resemblance to the works of nature is so 
exact, that one is cheated into the belief that the art 
of man has added nothing to its native beauties. But, 
apart from the forest growth that stretches out on every 
hand, the whole of it is the work of man. 

We retraced our course from this enchanting spot, 
and, along with an unbroken line of carriages, extend- 
ing for miles, we rolled with the glittering tide back to 
the gates of Paris, 



e() RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Jt was a sweet and deliglitful evening. The air was 
clear and bracing, and the whole expanse of heaven 
without a cloud. The sun was sinking away beyond 
the Bois de Boulogne, and the spires, towers, lofty 
domes, and sky-pointing obelisks and monumental piles 
of Paris caught its last parting kiss, as we passed the 
magnificent Triumphal Arch, and again plunged into 
the gay, cheerful, and merry throngs that crowded the 
Champs Elysees, and the Place de la Concorde. 

We alighted from our carriage, and strolled through 
the gardens of the Tuileries, and in front of the royal 
palace that looks westward upon these highly-orna- 
mental grounds. Thousands of the gay and fashionable 
promenaded the walks, or rested on the seats, every- 
where inviting to repose. From the gardens we entered 
the Rue de Rivoli ; and after a walk of half a mile or 
more, under the shadow of the palace of the Tuileries, 
the barracks, and the Louvre, all of which forms one 
continuous building, we reached our lodgings at the 
hotel. 

March 10. — Yesterday was Sunday. Paris knows 
no Sabbath. The sound of the carpenter's hammer and 
saw, employed even on government works, is heard as 
regular, if not to the same extent, on the Lord's day, as 
on any of the seven. At ten o'clock 1 visited the Eg Use 
de la Madeleine, the Magdalene church, and witnessed 
the celebration of High Mass, with all the senseless and 
ridiculous ceremonies attending it. The sermon deliv- 
ered on the occasion, was earnest, animated, and elo- 
quent. There was an immense crowd in the church — 
the music was fine, and a collection was taken by the 
priests, who circulated among the densely-packed mul- 
titude, preceded by church officials, in the uniform of 
field-marshals, who opened tlie way, and pounded the 



Notes of European tiiavel. 67 

marble pavement with their halberds, and crieJ oat iu 
a monotonous tone — '^'Aumone, sHl vous plait, pour 
Veglise'^ — (Alms, if you please, for the church). 

The Madeleine is a magnificent church edifice. It 
occupies a conspicuous position, and never fails to at- 
tract the attention of the stranger in Paris. It is one 
of the finest specimens of Corinthian architecture now 
in Europe — so it is said. I can not vouch for the 
truth of this statement, and for two reasons : First, I 
have not seen all the fine Corinthian buildings in Eu- 
r'ope ; and secondly, if I had seen all, I do not possess 
the critical ability, in architecture, to decide which is 
entitled to the highest consideration. The Madeleine 
looks more like a theatre, or splendid Lyceum building, 
or library edifice, to my eye, than a house for the wor- 
ship of Almighty God. It answers better to my idea 
of a magnificent heathen temple, in the days when Paul 
stood amid the. splendors that crowned the Acropolis of 
Athens, and declared the unJmoivri God to the polished 
Grecians. Napoleon, the first, entertained the purpose 
of dedicating this beautiful temple to the military glo- 
ries of France. Nor would it have been unsuitable for 
an object like this. 

A few paces from the Madeleine, fronting on the Rue 
Royale, there stands a small, unpretending Wesleyan 
chapel. Let us step inhere, at twelve o'clock — the more 
imposing part of the ceremonies at the Madeleine having 
closed. We find it crowded to excess before the hour 
of service arrives. It will not hold more than four 
hundred persons, and most of the seats are previously 
engaged. There is a small organ in the gallery, and 
the whole congregation, made up of all denominations 
of Protestant Christians, join in the singing. The 
morning service of the Church of England is gone 



(58 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

through with in a deeply spiritual manner, and then the 
gifted minister, who preaches regularly on Sabbath 
morning, gives us a most excellent sermon, full of the 
pith and marrow of the Gospel. It is good to be here. 
Simple, Christian worship is a pleasing and delightful 
thing in Paris, to any one who loves vital religion, and 
desires to see the leaven of truth spreading in the heart 
of an infidel country. 

Returning to the hotel, we find that business is scarce- 
ly suspended. Shops are everywhere open, and labor- 
ers are pursuing their ordinary daily labors. Hand- 
bills, freely circulated, advise us that the theatres and 
opera-houses will be open in the evening, and the public 
are promised something unusually attractive in the per- 
formances. Paris needs an evangelical religion. Would 
to God it had a thousand Protestant chapels, and a 
thousand such ministers as the Rev. Mr. Greaves. 

The afternoon of the Sabbath presents rare scenes, 
to one unaccustomed to such sights, on the Champs 
Elysees, and in the public gardens. There is no species 
of amusement, from the most childish up to out-door 
concerts, balls, and comic performances, with which 
older persons may be pleased, that is not resorted to 
by all classes of the community. Pistol-galleries are 
open and crowded ; a hundred varieties of small gam- 
bling display themselves ; hobby-horse riding, not only 
by children, but by grown-up men and women, is, for a 
while, in the ascendant ; then the mimic theatre or a 
Punch and Judy gets the run, and so on, of a thousand 
other varieties of out-door amusements. The people 
seem to be wholly given to frivolity, and pleasure. 
Anything that can gratify the demand for present en- 
loymcnt so totally absorbs the mind, as entirely to pre- 
clude everything else. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 69 

To-day, our party spent six or eight hours in a round 
of rather hurried sight-seeing. We took a cab, and 
went over to " the other side," and after a drive across 
the Champs de Mars — the great field of military pa- 
rades, and reviews, in front of the Ecole Militaire, 
where we witnessed some military exercises, and the 
training of some fine horses, we took a peep into some 
of the churches, and then, at a few minutes before twelve 
o'clock, drove up to the entrance of the Hotel des Inva- 
lides. Here we found a dense crowd of visiters before the 
gate — foreigners and citizens — waiting for admittance. 
For, although this place is opened three days in the 
week, from twelve till three o'clock, there are thousands 
of visiters always anxiously waiting for admittance. 
It was only necessary to show our passports to be ad- 
mitted. We entered first, the splendid and imposing 
apartment, under the dome of which is the tomb of 
Napoleon, which is the great object of attraction. It 
is in a circular vault, some ten or twelve feet below 
the level of the main floor, surrounded by a white marble 
bal^ trade — leaning over which the most splendid view 
of the dome, high altar, the tomb, and all the adjacent 
apartments, is presented to the beholder. 

The mortal remains of Napoleon are not yet deposit- 
ed in the tomb of red marble prepared for them, but 
are laid away in an adjoining room ; and the visiters, 
each in his turn, by taking position in the rank and file 
that march up to the door, which is made of iron, can 
get a peep, for a single moment into the well-guarded 
apartment, where he gets a glimpse of an old hat, and 
very little else. This is all he sees of the great Na- 
poleon ; and yet there is the most unappeasable anxiety 
and eagerness to get a peep into the room, through the 
grating of that iron door. It will not be long before 



To RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

these remains will be placed in the polished and elegant 
tomb which has been prepared for them by a people 
whose breath is one day the tempest of popular ap- 
plause ; the next of popular fury. We descended from 
the tomb into an outer court, through which we passed 
into the buildings of the vast hospital prepared for the 
old soldiers, who have done service for their country, 
and now, either from age or wounds received in battle, 
are unable to provide for themselves. 

An amusing little incident occurred just here. I, in 
advance of my party, descended first into the outer 
court. On missing my company I started back to find 
them, but was stopped by a police officer who inquired 
my object in going back. I intended to say — ^'3Ies 
amis sont derriere" — {JSIy friends are behind) ; but, by a 
slip of the tongue, which I did not detect at the time, said : 
" Vos amis sont derriere." — (Your friends are behind). 
He looked at me with amazement, and renewed his in- 
quiry, to which I replied as before — " Yoz/v friends 
are behind." He gave me up ; and as I ran up the 
f^teps the nature of the mistake which I had committed 
occurred to me ; and I felt half inclined to return and 
share my laugh with the officer, whose surprise I must 
have excited by insisting that his friends were behind, 
and that I was returning for them. 

In passing through the hospital we met with a great 
many old soldiers hobbling about on wooden legs, and 
otherwise mutilated and crippled up, who had received 
their wounds in the battles of Napoleon. Each one had 
his story to relate. The lapse of time has taken nothing 
from the romance of these narratives. The most arrant 
coward that ever lived, if wounded in a hard-fought 
battle, is supposed to have been a hero, and is allowed, 
by common consent, to tell his story witli the variations. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. • 71 

From the Hotel des Invalides, we drove back again 
lo " this side," and made our way toward the eastern 
part of the city, where we visited one of the abattoirs, 
or slaughter-houses of Paris. The establishment is 
immense. Here the beeves, sheep, pigs, calves, etc., are 
butchered for market. One's curiosity is soon gratified. 
The melting of tallow, clarifying of lard, drying raw 
hides, and the slaughtering of animals, does not emit 
an odor that is particularly grateful to the olfactories. 

It is not far to the eastern limits of the city, and wo 
will now drive just beyond the barriere, and take a view 
of Pere la Chaise, the city of the dead, which is far more 
densely crowded than the city of the living. The ap- 
proach to the gate of the cemetery we find lined with 
women, who have for sale an endless variety of such 
gifts as the French lavish on the graves of their friends. 
Among these souvenirs and votive offerings, we may 
name crucifixes, porcelain vases, wreaths of flowers, 
statuettes of all the saints in the calendar, and any 
quantity of yellow and white immortelles with inscrip- 
tions in black letters, '' a ma mere," '' a mon pere," 
"a ma soeur," and so on to the end of the whole cata- 
logue of life's valued and endearing relationships. 

Pere la Chaise embraces an area of one hundred and 
fifty acres, and occupies the slopes and summit of a 
high hill, from the more elevated portions of which the 
visiter may enjoy one of the most commanding views 
of Paris and the surrounding country, anywhere to bo 
obtained in the vicinity of the city. There are many 
costly monuments in this cemetery ; but it is too much 
crowded to present a very agreeable and pleasing view 
to the eye. In point of natural beauty and attractive- 
ness it is not comparable to Greenwood, Mount Auburn, 
and other cemeteries of our own country. The tomb 



72 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of Heloise and Abelard is always an object of attrac- 
tion to the visiter. Everybody has read the touching 
and beautiful story which commemorates the lives of 
these two singularly-gifted persons of the twelfth cen- 
tury. The tomb is a slight Gothic edifice, much worn 
with time, and crumbling away under the steady rav- 
ages of revolving centuries ; and yet it is ever green 
and redolent with the freshly-woven immortelles hung 
upon it by the countrymen of these long-buried lovers. 
Some of the epitaphs in this cemetery serve a double 
purpose. They commemorate the virtues and excel- 
lences of the departed, and advertise the localities and 
business of their successors in trade. I was pleased 
with the division of the cemetery devoted to the burial 
of little children and infants. From one of the tomb- 
stones marking the resting-place of a child, I copied 
the following inscription : " Our infant died the day it 
was born. It is much regretted by its parents, and 
brothers, and sisters ; but it is now an angel in heaven 
and prays for us." Almost every inch of Pere la Chaise 
has an occupant. There are thousands of family-vaults, 
many of which are beautiful, and expensive ; but they 
are so crowded together as to destroy all that is pleas- 
ing in effect ; and yet the reflections which are awak- 
ened by the names and inscriptions upon the endless 
variety of monuments that meet the eye, together with 
the commanding view of Paris which is presented from 
the highest point of the grounds, amply repay a visit 
to this celebrated cemetery. The government has erased 
from the gateways the words which formerly attracted 
the eyes of almost every visiter : " Liberie^ Eg-alite, 
Fraternite f and yet, this was the only spot, as some- 
body has justly remarked, where they could with truth 
have remained. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 73 

From Pere la Chaise we re-entered the gates of Paris, 
and drove by the seat of the old Bastile, thence to the 
Jardin des Plantes, and after a partial survey of these 
lovely grounds with their numberless objects of attrac- 
tion, a notice of which must be deferred till my return 
at a more advanced season of the year, we departed by 
the gate on the opposite side of the grounds to that at 
which we entered, and after a drive upon the Boule- 
vards we turned into the Rue Yivienne, on our way to 
the-hotel. In this street we came upon a dense crowd 
of people, men, women, and children, all of whom 
seemed to be eagerly intent on something ; what it was 
we could not tell ; and being wearied with a hard day's 
work, we did not feel at all inclined to stop to ascer- 
tain the cause of this assemblage in the streets. We 
had to turn out of Rue Vivienne, and take another route 
to our hotel. We learned afterward that the immense 
crowd was attracted by the hope of seeing the baby- 
clothes prepared for the infant expected soon to make 
its appearance at the palace of the Tuileries. The 
empress is in an interesting condition, which is a sub- 
ject of much talk and speculation with the people. 
Everybody seems to be interested in the advent of the 
royal babe, and the apparel for the expected new-comer 
is all prepared. Before it is sent from the establish- 
ment which has had the honor of getting it up, the 
public have the distinguished privilege of getting a peep 
at it. The crowd, so eager to get a look at the baby- 
clothes, was composed principally of females. The 
ladies of Paris seem to have quite as much curiosity as 
their sisters in America. 

Further notices of sights and scenes in Paris must be 
deferred till another visit. We shall leave for Marseilles 
in the course of the next half hour. 

4 



71 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER lY. 

FROM PARIS TO ROME. 

From Paris to Marseilles. — INIarseilles. — Notre Dame tie la Garde. — 
Environs. — Drive. — Leave for Civita Vecchia. — Genoa. — Streefs. — 
Curiosities. — Churches. — Worship. — Departure for Leghorn. — Leg- 
horn. — Shops. — Beggai-s. — Civita Vecchia. — Ride to Rome. — Diffi- 
culty of obtaining Lodgings. — Reflections late at Night. 

Marseilles, March 13. — We left Paris on Monday 
night at eight o'clock for this place by way of Lyons, 
Vienne, Yalence, Avignon, &c. About daylight we 
reached the banks of the Saone, and glided down its 
valley, through what is called the finest league of 
France, to Lyons, which we reached about seven o'clock 
in the morning. The great railroad line from Paris 
to Marseilles, a distance of four hundred and thirty-five 
miles is now completed, except the bridges at Lyons 
across the two rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, at the 
junction of which the city stands. These bridges, when 
finished, will be as fine specimens of workmanship as 
can anyAvhere be found. The one across the Rhone is 
already nearly done — built of cast iron — and it pre- 
sents a most beautiful and picturesque view, as seen 
from a point about half a mile above it. The piers of 
the bridge across the Saone are now building in water 
that is fifty feet deep. G-reat cylinders of cast-iron are 
first planted on the bottom of the river, by some means, 
I know not how — which reach above the surface of the 
water. From these the water is pumped out, and the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 75 

workmen descend in them, as in a well, and cany on 
the work of rearing the piers from the bottom of the 
river. This bridge across the Saone is approached by 
a tmmel five or six miles in length ! How far it is be- 
low the surface of the earth I can not tell. But it is no 
uncommon thing in this country to travel for a mile or 
two at a time through a tunnel, and that, too, at the rate 
of about forty miles per hour. But the railroads in 
this country are so delightful ! There is scarcely any 
perceptible motion. The roads are beautifully graded, 
and then covered with pebbles or small fragments of 
rock pounded in so as to make them firm. The sides 
of the embankments are turfed. The tracks are always 
double, so that there is no danger of collision. The 
coaches are elegant, and the whole management of the 
roads is conducted with the strictest reference to the 
convenience, comfort, and safety of the passengers. 

Travelling by rail in England, and especially on the 
continent, is much more pleasant, and vastly safer than 
in the United States. The express, and the direct 
trains, as they are called, make but few stoppages on 
the long routes, and ordinarily not more than one or 
two minutes at a station. Then everything is so quiet. 
There is no bustle, or noise at the stations. In obtain- 
ing tickets, but one person can approach at the same 
time, and he must get his change and retire, before 
another can apply. In a word there is perfect system 
about everything. The coaches are not like ours. 
They are divided into apartments that resemble ele- 
gantly-furnished private carriages. On the continent 
there are eight seats in these apartments ; in England 
as a general thing, only six. The first class on the 
continent is far superior in point of comfort, to the first 
class in Enq-land. In Enixland thev have no means of 



76 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

warming the coaches in cold weather. In France they 
warm them by means of cylinders of hot water, which 
are changed two or three times during the night, or day. 
They keep the coaches very comfortable. 

The road from Lyons to Marseilles, now complete, 
lies along the valley of the Rhone, and for the most part 
immediately upon the banks of this beautiful river. The 
Rhone after its junction with the Saone forms a con- 
siderable stream, and is skirted most of the way with 
fine alluvial low grounds, perfectly flat, which extend 
in breadth from a half mile, to more than a mile, as a 
general thing. Sometimes the mountains and precipi- 
tous hills run up close to the river, and confine it in 
very narrow limits. The views on this valley, as one 
hastens through its wide sweeping curves, and around 
its lofty head-lands, casting their shadows over the vale 
below, are perfectly enchanting. The absence of trees 
and forests on the hills more nearly adjacent to the val- 
ley, give them an evenness of outline, and gracefulness 
of figure, that very much contribute to the softness and 
beauty of the landscape. The pictures are not so much 
distinguished by their boldness and wild romantic appear- 
ance, as some presented on the James river above Lynch- 
burg, but they are softer, more dreamy, and picturesque. 

As we approached Valence, which is about sixty- 
five miles below Lyons, we obtained our first views 
of some of the ranges of the Alps, standing out in 
the distance, in wild, rugged grandeur, with their sky- 
cleaving summits covered with snow. Just as dark 
set in, we passed Avignon ; an old time-honored place, 
which has many historical associations connected with 
it. The principal object of interest, at present, is the 
remains of the old papal palace ; this place having 
been for a long time the residence of the popes. There 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 77 

was a celebrated old churcli of the Franciscans in Avig- 
non ; it is now destroyed. Petrarch, the Italian poet, 
resided here for several years, and here he first saw his 
Laura, whose tomb was in the Franciscan church. 

It was ten o'clock at night when we arrived at Mar- 
seilles. The church-bells, and, it seemed to me, all 
other sorts of bells were ringing when we entered the 
city. When I awoke next morning the bells were still 
ringing ; whether they were rung all night or not, I am 
not prepared to say ; but they were ringing when I 
awoke, and have been, with only occasional intermis- 
sions, ever since. Last night they were rung from seven 
till nine o'clock. I began to think something extraor- 
dinary had occurred somewhere : that important news 
had been received — either, from the peace congress, 
now in session at Paris, or from Sebastopol, the seat 
of war. Our courier, Suderie, came in while I was 
revolving the subject in my mind, and I inquired of him 
the cause of the constant ringing of the church-bells. 
He laughed, and said it was the custom of the country, 
and that the people of Marseilles had nothing else to 
do. It was perfectly satisfactory ! My mind was at 
rest, and I slept well. 

Yesterday we had a fine opportunity of taking a sur- 
vey of the city and its environs. It contains a popula- 
tion of about one hundred and eighty-five thousand, and 
is the principal seaport of France. It has a fine har- 
bor ; and in strolling round upon the wharves yester- 
day, I saw a number of vessels from New York. The 
people are exceedingly fine-looking, and the city pre- 
sents a pleasant, cheerful, and prosperous appearance. 
Some parts of it are not very inviting ; and Coleridge, 
probably, might have found as many distinct unsavory 
smells in Marseilles as he says he detected in Cologne. 



78 RANDOM SKETCHES AJfD 

I think it was Cologne, where he smelled, as he said, 
about fifty-seven s . 

The scenery about Marseilles is attractive. There 
are several thousands of beautiful country villas on the 
hills and slopes surrounding this city. As I sat on a 
stone balustrade, overlooking the new port, in which a 
large number of vessels were lying I had a fine view 
spread out before me. The dark blue waters of the 
Mediterranean were lying in the foreground, stirred into 
playful ripples by a soft and gentle southern breeze, 
while far away in the distance the ships and smaller 
craft, bound for other ports, were spreading all their 
canvass to the winds, and standing out to sea. On the 
right there was a long line of coast, along which, as 
far as the eye could reach, the surf was rolling up in 
snowy wreaths upon the rocky shore. Northward the 
villas of rich and retired merchants gleamed in the 
sunshine, peeping out from the olive orchards and orange 
groves that cover the hills. I was not alone. Branch 
sat by me in moody silence, gazing upon the varied 
scenes of beauty around : Warwick whistled and sung, 
by turns, an old home tune ; while Walker broke the 
silence that had prevailed for a time, by saying, " I ex- 
pect I shall be as sick as a dog- on our passage to Civita 
Vecchia." This was too unsentimental and practical 
a view of things not to excite a laugh ; so the spell was 
broken, and we left off our musing for another stroll 
about the wharves, and another lunch on the delicious 
oranges which are everywhere offered for sale at a sou 
a piece. 

To-day has been devoted to the environs of Mar- 
seilles. This morning we went up to Notre Dame de 
la Garde, a church that stands upon an elevation, four 
hundred reet above the level of the sea, overlooking 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 79 

the entrance to the harbor, and commanduig a mag- 
nificent view of Marseilles, and all the surrounding 
country to an immense extent. Notre Dame de la 
Garde takes its name (I suppose) from the fact that it 
occupies an elevated position, from which a careful, 
watchful oversight may be exercised over the city. The 
old church has been pulled down, and now a new church 
edifice, of large capacity, is building. There is a neat, 
new chapel erected, which is used for religious ser- 
vices, adjoining which is temporarily hung the great 
bell, which is designed for a tower on the new church 
edifice, when it shall be completed. This bell was cast 
at Lyons. It weighs twenty thousand pounds. The 
clapper weighs eight hundred pounds. It is only rung 
as an alarm bell, either for fire, or disaster at sea, or 
something of that sort. It can be heard thirty miles at 
sea. It measures more than twenty-four feet in cir- 
cumference. There is a platform or bridge erected 
above the bell, which is four hundred and eighty feet 
above the level of the sea, from which the best view of 
Marseilles and its environs is obtained. From this 
elevated point one can see every house in the city, and 
take a survey of the whole country, as far as the hills 
and mountains will permit the eye to range. The 
villas and country-seats seem to lie almost directly 
under the eye, while the Mediterranean, with its dark 
blue waters dancing in the sunlight may be surveyed 
for many, many leagues, whitened with the sails of out- 
going, and in-coming vessels. I sat there this morning, 
while the warm, genial sunshine came down upon me, 
and the gentle breezes from the sea fanned me. The 
chime of church-bells, swelling up from the city, soften- 
ed by the distance, stole sweetly upon my ear, while the 
din and bustle of the noisy mart below were only heard 



80 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

as a far-off buzz, that scarcely reached me. I shall not 
soon forget the view from Notre Dame de la Garde. I 
purchased a few medals, on which is impressed the de- 
sign of the new church, and which are sold for the 
benefit of the church, and plucked a few flowers from 
the summit of the hill for my herbarium, and then de- 
scended to take a stroll by the seaside, around the 
fortifications, and about the town. 

This afternoon, in company with my young friends, I 
took a drive down the Prado, a beautiful promenade 
that runs southward from the city until it reaches the 
seashore ; and then, by a new-made road, excavated 
in the face of the rock and walled up next to the water, 
we drove about two miles along the margin of the 
Mediterranean. At the end of our drive we descended 
by steps to the water's edge, and watched the surf, as 
wave succeeded wave, beating upon the cavernous 
rocks, and roaring in dirge-like music along the rugged 
shore. It was a sublime and beautiful sight. The air 
v/as soft and balmy. The sky was without a cloud, and 
the sun was sinking away over the western wave. My 
thoughts wandered beyond the straits of Gibraltar, and 
away over the wide, wide sea ; and as I sat upon the 
rocks overhanging the waters of the Mediterranean, I 
found myself, in imagination, mingling with the dear 
little home circle in the parsonage at Richmond, and 
exchanging fond greetings with the members of my 
pastoral care at Centenary. I was called away by the 
hallooing of " the hoys^^ as I familiarly call them, who 
were waiting for me at the carriage. On our return 
we drove about the city for an hour, and then made our 
way to the Hotel des Empereurs, where I write these 
lines. 

March 15. — I write on board the steamer, Maria 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 81 

Antoinette, one of the Sardinian royal mail-steamers, 
running between Marseilles and Palermo in Sicily, 
and touching at Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Yecchia, and 
Naples. 

We left Marseilles yesterday morning at eight o'clock, 
with the promise that we should be landed in Genoa, 
at latest, by nine o'clock this morning. It is now eleven 
o'clock, and Genoa is more than twenty miles distant. 
We have a strong wind, nearly ahead, which compels 
us to keep in close to the shore, but this affords us an 
opportunity of getting a better view of the fine scenery, 
which borders the sea. 

From Nice to Genoa there is a government road, which 
has been constructed at very great expense, and which 
lies immediately along the shores of the Mediterranean. 
Sometimes it passes through tunnels, and then again 
appears like a terrace on the face of the beetling rocks, 
overhanging the sea, without a balustrade or wall be- 
tween the road and the precipice. This highway passes 
through a succession of towns and villages, through 
groves of orange and olive trees, and climbs among 
the winter evergreens that cling to the rugged rocks 
on the jagged brow of the mountains. The branches 
and offshoots of the Maritime Alps run right up to the 
shore. These are now covered with snow. The sides 
of these mountains, as seen from the deck of our 
steamer, present to the eye, at a single glance, all the 
climates of the globe, from the warm, tropical suns of 
the south to the frigid severity of the polar regions of 
the north. 

The bases of these mountain-spurs are fringed with 
palms, and the luxuriant foliage of fruit-bearing trees, 
while, midway up their rocky sides the vegetation be- 
gins to disappear and the stunted shrubs assume a 



82 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

wintry aspect ; still higher the fleecy frostwork lingers 
upon the elevated peaks, while the more remote summits 
are covered to a great depth, with unbroken fields of 
snow, and stern Winter waves his icy sceptre over the 
desolations of nature. From our present point of ob- 
servation the shore seems to be literally lined with 
villages. I but just now counted nine of these small 
towns, apparently on the edge of the water, at a single 
view. 

We are now crossing the gulf of Genoa, surrounded 
on the north by a wide-sweeping segment of a circle, 
along which the road winds its way among the villages, 
groves, and rocks, and through the jutting headlands of 
the sub-Alpine, or Apennine offshoots (for it is not known 
where one range ends and the other begins) ; while the 
deep blue waters of the Mediterranean roll and dash, 
with their white caps of feathery foam, around us. 

Another feature of interest on the shore is the churclies, 
hanging upon the wild, precipitous steeps that overlook 
the sea. They are always in sight. From these churches 
the worshippers can see the passing vessels for many 
miles away, and in calm or storm can commend the 
voyagers to the guardian care of a common, merciful 
Father, '^ whom winds and seas obey." 

The white houses upon the sides of the lower hills, 
smothered in green trees, look like snow-drops spring- 
ing from the earth, and glancing in the sunlight. But — 

" 'T is distance lends enchantment to the view;" 

for it is said, with all the outward beauty of these villages, 
lying like wreaths of snowy flowers along the shore, 
and all the loveliness of the cotta<2:es that nestle amona: 
the mountain-rocks, as seen from the sea, that they are, 
after all, comfortless habitations, with wretched inmates. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 83 

miserably clad and poorly fed. But we are drawing 
near to the harbor of Genoa, and I must prepare to go 
ashore. 

Genoa, same date. — We reached this unique city at 
one o'clock to-day — that is to say we were at anchor 
in the port of Genoa, but we had to wait an hour or so 
before we could go ashore. The captain had first to 
take our passports, and have them registered at the police 
office, and get permission for us to stop in the city. But 
we got ashore, and at the Hotel de la Croix de Malte, 
or, the Hotel of the Cross of Malta, we got delightful 
rooms, commanding a splendid view of the harbor and 
gulf of Genoa — the shipping, the distant mountains 
covered with snow, and the intervening valleys smiling 
In summer-green. Here we got a good dinner, and 
started out upon a survey of the city. 

That which most attracts the eye of a traveller on 
entering Genoa, is, first, the novel and strange append- 
age to the attire of the ladies, in the form of a muslin 
veil or robe worn over the head and shoulders ; the 
other is the beautiful filigree work in silver and gold, 
which is carried to a perfection and an extent that is 
nowhere equalled in Europe. The ladies are generally 
handsome, and the novel appendage to their attire is 
by no means objectionable. They dress with fine taste, 
and in most elegant apparel. Fine maroon, silk velvet 
dresses, and mantillas or cloaks, trimmed with the most 
costly fringes, laces, etc., meet the eye on all the fash- 
ionable promenades, at every turn. I have nowhere 
seen ladies carry themselves with more grace and ele- 
gance than in Genoa. The filigree work in silver is 
perfectly wonderful. Silver thread is wrought, by hand, 
without the aid of any machinery whatever, into the 
most exquisitely beautiful pieces of workmanship, in 



:U IJANDOxM SKETCHES AND 

tlie form of bunches of flowers, butterflies, brooches, 
bracelets, card-cases, hair-pins, and the like, that can 
be conceived of. There is one street on which there 
are scores of shops for the sale of this style of work. 

The next thing, which in point of novelty, most at- 
tracts the attention of strangers in Genoa is, the narrow- 
ness of the streets. Everybody has heard of the narrow 
streets of this city. I had heard of them, but I really 
was not prepared to find them as narrow as they actual- 
ly turned out to be. A great many of the streets, in 
which business is transacted, are not more than eight 
or ten feet wide, while the houses are six, seven, and 
even eight stories high. Some of the streets are not 
more than six feet in width. I felt as I walked along 
these streets, as though I was entering the private lanes, 
or alleys, to the most private part of a gentleman's lot. 
But one soon gets used to it, as he does to a great many 
other things in Europe, which would strike him as sin- 
gularly incongruous and in bad taste in America. 

There are many streets here, on the pavement of which 
the sun never shines from the beginning till the end of 
the year, and yet the city has a dry, light, and airy 
appearance. It is by no means as gloomy as one would 
suppose, from the narrowness of the streets, and the 
height of the houses. The shops or stores are small, 
and, like Paris, almost everything for sale is in the 
windows and doors. We find excellent oranges here, 
just from the trees, and of a most delicious flavor, and 
very large pears, which must have been kept through 
the winter, by some process, from the last crop. They 
are juicy, and of a delightful flavor. These latter are 
sold by weight. I bought some at a shop, and the old 
lady that sold them to me, sung a song while she was 
weighing then. My ignorance of the miserable Italian 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 85 

spoken and sung at Genoa, did not allow me the pleasure 
of enjoying the sentiments embodied in the song. 

I must advert again to tlie peculiar attire, worn on 
the heads of the ladies of Genoa. It is generally made 
of muslin, and is thrown over their head, and fastened 
to their rich glossy hair with pins, and then extends 
downward, over the shoulders and arms as low as the 
waist, and sometimes to the bottom of their dresses. 
This is perfectly plain, and gives them a sort of quaker- 
ish appearance, and yet it is most graceful and attrac- 
tive as worn by the Genoese ladies. Some of the plainer 
classes wear calico, or something of that sort in the 
same way, but of whatever material made, it is always 
clean and nice. Those made of fine white muslin, or 
tulle, and so arranged as to come just to the brow, and 
cover the top and back part of the head, are grace- 
fully held, by ladies of fashion, "with the fingers beau- 
tifully disposed among the folds," and so adjusted as 
to give a charm to the lustrous black eyes and pretty 
features that gleam from beneath. I like this peculi- 
arity of attire very much. It looks strange to one not 
accustomed to it, but it is, nevertheless, very agreeable 
and attractive. 

March 17. — We have just arrived in the port of 
Leghorn, and while the captain is making arrangements 
for us to go ashore, which will occupy at least an hour and 
a half, I will write up my journal. 

We left Genoa yesterday evening at seven o'clock — 
dined on board after our departure from the port, with 
a considerable addition to the number of our passen- 
gers ; had a fine run during the night, and arrived here 
at sunrise this morning. 

But let us return to Genoa. Yesterday was Palm 
Sunday. Early in the morning I took a walk about the 



86 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

city. There was everywhere the air and appearance 
of a holy day — not of a Christian Sabbath. The mar- 
ket-places were open and crowded, and priests and 
people seemed intent on making preparation for the 
comfort of the inner man by laying in a supply of fish, 
fowl, and vegetables. Most of the stalls for the sale 
of vegetables, fruit, and poultry, were kept by females. 
In Genoa, as everywhere else, thus far on the continent, 
I observed that the venders of articles, did not urge 
any one to buy. They spread their goods and wares 
before you, and seem to act upon the presumption that 
if any one wants an article in their respective lines of 
trade, he will call and suit himself. They will show 
whatever they have for sale, whether it be provisions, 
jewelry, or velvet, and will lavishly bestow praises 
upon the superiority of their merchandise ; but, as a 
general thing, they do not insist upon your buying any- 
thing. 

From the heights on which the more remote part of 
the city stands, running back from the water, there is a 
most magnificent panoramic view spread before the 
eye. The city lies at the beholder's feet, while the 
wide-sweeping gulf of Genoa, edged with villages, and 
dotted with white sails, sleeps beneath the shadows of 
the circumjacent mountains, whose snowy peaks, shoot- 
ing up into the clear blue sky, are as distinctly seen in 
the depths below, as in the heights above. Orange- 
groves and olive-orchards are sprinkled along the val- 
leys, and spot, with living green, the lower slopes of the 
boundless succession of hills ; while, farther back, the 
glittering shafts of the Alpine ranges, stand out like 
armor-clad sentinels guarding all the avenues of approach 
to the quiet, slumberous scene enclosed in the beauteous 
scope of vision. This lovely picture greeted my eyes 



NOTES OF EUEOPEAN TEAVEL. 87 

iii^ the early morning of yesterday, while the dew was 
yet on shrub and flower, and every object was bathed in 
the genial sunshine of the opening spring. 

At a little after ten o'clock in the morning our party 
started from the hotel, for the English chapel, where 
we intended to worship at half-past eleren. Our ob- 
ject was to call at some of the Roman Catholic places 
of worship on our way. First we stopped at the cathe- 
dral of Genoa. This is an old church and has some 
very fine paintings. The priests were chanting the ser- 
vice. It was not particularly impressive. Indeed, I can 
not but regard the whole choral service, whether in the 
cathedrals of the Establishment of England, or in the 
cathedrals of the Roman Catholic church of France and 
Italy, as a most ridiculous and farcical afiair. It is a 
great tax on one's patience, and a perfect mockery of 
devotion. How would Peter, and Paul, and John, and 
James, have appeared chanting a long service before 
preaching in apostolic times ? When preachers of the 
gospel are intent on converting sinners from the error 
of their ways, they have a more direct way of coming at 
it. This mode of worship may answer for a religion 
that is supported by the government ; and by its 
pageantry, glitter, and show, it may amuse and engage 
the attention of the populace, but it will not meet the 
demands of an enlightened and intelligent piety. If 
one ask bread, it is worse than giving him a stone in 
return. Nothing but the force of education and a 
long system of training can reconcile the people to it. 
The ignorant and uneducated are the most devout 
among the worshippers. Everywhere, in these Catholic 
churches — in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, and Genoa, the 
]oor are most observant of the forms of religion. 
These I have seen kneeling by the hour upon the cold 



88 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

marble pavements of tlie old, damp, and gloomy cliurcli- 
es, muttering over their prayers, and performing their 
devotions. Even when the air was frosty, I have seen 
the oil and decrepit — male and female, poorly clad — 
kneeling bolt upright, before a picture of the holy vir- 
gin, or at the shrine of some favorite saint, and that, too, 
without a chair or stool on which to rest the head or 
hands, and there remaining, by the hour, apparently ab- 
sorbed in devotion. My heart has often been deeply 
touched by these spectacles. 

Yesterday being Palm Sunday, the cathedral was 
crowded. The priests were bearing in their hands and 
attached to their robes, palm-leaves, beautifully platted, 
which were rather ornamental than otherwise. The 
little children, also, carried in their hands long, plume- 
like branches of palm ; the leaves having been split up 
in small strips, and neatly platted for the occasion. 
This was done by the women whom we saw at every 
corner, on Saturday evening, industriously employed in 
getting up a large supply to meet the demand for the 
sabbath services. 

From the cathedral we next visited a fine church oc- 
cupied by a congregation of Jesuits. This is said to 
be the wealthiest congregation in the city. The in- 
terior of the church is finely gilt, and is ornamented 
with a number of elegant paintings. Here also the 
standing farce of the choral-service was going on : but 
it had an addition to it which contributed to its inter- 
est. There was a full orchestra, as a sort of accom- 
paniment, and the music was elegant. It came in now 
and then, in sudden, sublime snatches, that made one's 
blood leap. There were at least, I should think, twenty 
instruments besides the organ, and a considerable num- 
ber of splendid voices. They occupied an elevated posi- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 89 

tion, and the only drawback to the enjoyment of the mu- 
sic, apart from its utter incongruity in a place of religious 
worship, was the marking of the time by the leader, 
which he did, after the concert style, with a piece of 
paper rolled up, by rapping on the music-stand before 
him. Rap, rap^ rap, rap^ came down with an ugly, 
flapping somid about as hard as he could lay it on ; and 
I never saw any one more intent on anything than he 
was, in thus marking the time. But the music was 
grand. The sing-sing, drum-drum, of the service tired 
me. The responses were very much in the "heave- 
away" tone of sailors swinging to a rope, or like the 
chorus of a parcel of Virginia negroes at a corn- 
shucking. 

The ladies, for the most part, in these places of wor- 
ship, wore the muslin robe or veil over the head ; though 
many had on neat and beautifully-trimmed bonnets, 
after the small ] -a ttern that prevails at present in all 
fashionable society throughout the world. 

We next went to the English chapel, where the ser 
vic/ 'vas very long, being Palm Sunday, and the ser 
mon short and very good. There was a good-looking 
congregation in attendance. In this same chapel a 
congregation of Waldenses or Yaudois Christians wor- 
ship on the Sabbath. Their service commences at half- 
past ten o'clock, and the Church of England service at 
half-past eleven o'clock. It is an interesting fact that 
these Waldenses have built up a church in Genoa, of 
more than three hundred members in the last three or 
four years, nearly all of whom are converted Roman 
Catholics. There was a notice on the door of tho 
chapel in these words : " Strangers are advised that 
this church is supported by voluntary contributions." 
I do not know whether this refers to the Vaudois 



90 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Christians, or to the Episcopal congregations, or, to 
both alike. 

On returning to our hotel — the same at which 
Wykoff and Miss Gamble stopped, and from which he 
was taken to prison — we found the principal thorough- 
fares thronged with many thousands of persons, who, 
on leaving the dijfferent places of worship, were prom- 
enading the streets. Here we had a fine opportunity 
of seeing the best .classes of society in their Sunday 
attire. The men were exceedingly fine-looking, and 
very genteelly dressed, and many of the ladies were 
magnificently attired in the most costly velvets and 
silks and in admirable taste. Kich maroon and black 
silk velvet dresses, with elegant cloaks and mantillas 
of the same material, trimmed vvdth expensive laces, 
w^ere abundant. Then the ladies have fine figures and 
handsome features, and carry themselves with decided 
elegance and grace. I was much pleased with what I 
saw of the G-enoese ladies. 

In the afternoon of the Sabbath we visited several 
other churches. The most elegant that we saw was 
L^ Aminciatta, or Church of the Annunciation. This 
was built and decorated at the private expense of 
the Lomellini family, formerly sovereigns of the is- 
land of Tabarca, off the coasts of Africa, until 
taken from them by the Bey of Tunis in 1741. The 
whole of the inner surface of the roof has recently 
been regilt, and the highly-wrought, massive deco- 
rations present a most brilliant and dazzling appearance 
to the eye. There are pillars of the most elegant mar- 
ble, sometimes two or three kinds of marble are 
combined in the same column. Besides these principal 
columns there are smaller ones, of alabaster, porphyry, 
and variegated marble, from different countries and 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 91 

localities, which separate and adorn the side chapels, 
and serve as ornaments to other parts of the church. 
There are some exquisite paintings in this church, and 
a number of elegant pieces of statuary. Here a priest 
did us the honor to take down a small branch of palm 
from the high altar, and distribute it among our 
party. On leaving this church we passed the large 
public square on which is already erected the pedestal 
on which the superb statue of Christopher Columbus, 
now finished in Florence, is to rest. 

The birthplace of Columbus is not certainly known. 
A small town on the gulf of Genoa, a few miles from 
the city, called Cogoletto, claims to be the place of his 
nativity. The house of his father, on the other hand, 
can be proved by title-deeds to have been situated on 
the suburbs of Genoa ; while Quinto, a short distance 
from the city, comes in as a claimant for this dis- 
tinguished honor. 

While in Genoa I visited several palaces — for it is 
a city of palaces. The royal family being at Turin, 
visiters were admitted to the royal palace. I and my 
young friends were shown through all of its apart- 
ments, even the private apartments of the mother of 
the king. We were in the throne-room, which is gor- 
geous and brilliant to a degree. The floors were cov- 
ered with the most costly carpets, and the walls lined 
with brilliant crimson silk velvet. The chair of state 
was plated with gold, and the drapery about the throne 
all trimmed with gold fringe. The conversation-room, 
adjoining the throne-room, is a fine saloon, with a wood 
mosiac floor. The ball-room has a floor of the same 
description. Many of the apartments have floors that 
very much resemble the Potomac marble of our own 
country ; such as is used in the columns of the hall of 



92 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the House of Representatives at Washington. It is, 
however, a very different material. It is composed of 
fragments of A^arious kinds of marble, laid down in ce- 
ment in a semi-fluid state, which, on becoming hard 
and firm, is worked down, and polished off, until it 
presents the appearance of solid marble. The whole 
floor is one piece ; and in walking over these marble 
and mosaic floors, one has to be very circumspect, or he 
will find himself performing some of the feats of boys 
on very smooth ice, in their first attempts at skating. 
There is a gallery of statuary in the palace, and 
some fine paintings, though the king of Sardinia 
has removed the best specimens to his palace in 
Turin. There is, in this palace, a small apartment or 
boudoir^ which hoists up and down, by means of tackle, 
from the queen's apartments on the third floor, so as to 
save her majesty the trouble and fatigue of ascending and 
descending the stairs. By a similar contrivance the 
royal family can be let down to a private way, leading 
to the railroad which runs just in the rear of the palace 
grounds, through which tlie royal coach can be entered, 
under cover, and the family conveyed to Turin without 
exposure to the prying gaze of the populace. 

We pause for a moment at the front window of our 
suite of apartments, for one more look upon the harbor 
and gulf of Genoa, with the captivating scenery 
around, before we take our departure from this place. 
The view from the lower windows of this hotel is ob- 
structed by a high parapet that extends some three or 
four hundred yards along the shore, with a wide prom- 
enade on the top, protected on the sides by a white 
marble balustrade. But from our window the view is 
unobstructed. The sun is going down. The American, 
flag floats from three of our naval ships now lying in 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 93 

this harbor. White-winged boats are flying, like birds, 
before the winds, in every direction ; while the dark 
shadows of the distant mountains give a variegated as- 
pect to the bosom of the gulf, broken, as it is, into 
laughing dimples by the evening winds that play over 
its surface. 

But the boat is waiting to take us ashore. The ap- 
pearance of Leghorn, as seen from the water, is not 
striking. It stands principally upon a level plain, but 
is surrounded by hills and mountains. 

Same date. — For the privilege of going ashore in 
Leghorn we had to pay each one dollar. Oh ! how I 
hate these abominable police arrangements. Our pass- 
ports, of course, had to be vised, and we must each 
have a formal permit to put our feet on the shore. 
Forty cents of the one dollar which we paid for the 
vise,, we were gravely informed, were for the poor of 
the city. But the payment in advance for their benefit 
was no protection against their clamorous importunities 
for more. These poor, little petty governments have 
no other means of support, it would seem, than from 
a revenue obtained by extortion on travellers. We 
took lodgings at the San Marco, a most excellent hotel, 
where we got a good breakfast, and then started out 
for a survey of the city. A number of our travelling 
companions took the cars, and ran up to Pisa, a distance 
of twelve or fourteen miles, to see the Leaning Tower 
and other objects of interest, designing to return to 
Leghorn in time to take the boat again, on its departure 
for Civita Vecchia in the evening. But as we expect to 
return to Leghorn, on our way to Florence, when we 
shall have a better opportunity of seeing Pisa, we pre- 
ferred spending the day in Leghorn. On going into 
the streets we were beset by beggars. These were the 



04 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

first that wo have seen on the continent. And who- 
ever saw such miserable, loathsome objects ? The 
maimed, halt, and blind. Poor, degraded objects that 
sicken one to look at them. And then they beg in such 
touching, plaintive tones, that the heart must be hard 
that can refuse them. 

We looked into some of the large alabaster shops, 
and feasted our eyes upon the vast variety of attractive 
articles, wrought out of this frail and delicate material, 
for ornamental purposes. The alabaster is procured 
from a quarry in a mountain, that is in sight of Leg- 
horn. It is never obtained in large blocks like marble ; 
but in pieces varying in size from six inches to two or 
three feet square. These blocks are wrought into the 
most beautiful vases, mantle ornaments, and delicate 
statuary after the most exquisite models. The prices 
were rather higher than we anticipated, though the 
guide-books say that almost anything can be bought for 
about one half the price usually asked. 

The day has been extremely disagreeable. The wind 
has been blowing from the Apennines, which are in full 
view, and covered with snow. The atmosphere is cold 
and penetrating. My impressions of Leghorn are by no 
means agreeable. I hope to see it under more favora- 
ble circumstances on my return, at a later period in the 
spring. For the present, as our boat leaves the harbor, 
at four o'clock in the afternoon, I bid it farewell, with- 
out a longing, lingering look cast behind. 

Rome, March 18. — A strange feeling stole over me 
as I entered the gates of old Rome, this evening at half- 
past seven o'clock. It was hard for me to realize that 
I was actually within the precincts of the city where 
Cicero poured forth his strains of unrivalled eloquence ; 
where Aristotle taught ; where Horace occasionally so- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 95 

jounied ; where Cassar recounted his victories ; where 
Juvenal, Ovid, Livy, Tacitus, Pliny, and Terence, had 
all been in the days of other years ; where Nero and 
Caligula, names associated with bloody deeds, had 
lived, and reigned, and died: that I was near the 
ground where mighty men had struggled for fame ; near 
the Forum where orators of classic memory had ha- 
rangued ; near the amphitheatre where tierce gladiators 
had expired in fearful contests ; near the spot where Saint 
Paul was imprisoned and beheaded ; that I was not far 
from the old Capitol, near the Coliseum, and under the 
shadow of Saint Peter's. 

But I must briefly review our route and travel from 
Leghorn to this place. We had a rough passage to 
Civita Yecchia, which is the principal port of Rome. 
Most of the passengers were miserably seasick. It was 
ten o'clock this morning when we got to Civita A^ecchia. 
This is a dirty, mean little place. Everybody, from 
the customhouse officers down to the lowest of the 
porters, seems intent on getting something out of travel- 
lers. We were again detained on board more than an 
hour before we could go ashore ; and then more than 
an hour in getting our baggage through the custom- 
house, and obtaining the necessary visas preparatory 
to our departure for Rome. All this is vexatious, to a 
point almost beyond endurance. It was one o'clock be- 
fore we got out of that contemptible little hole, called 
Civita Yecchia. 

Our party engaged a post-carriage, with four inside 
seats. These carriages, though not sightly, are tolera- 
bly comfortable. We had three horses and a postillion, 
which were to be changed, by contract, every ten or 
twelve miles. We got our baggage through the custom- 
house, and obtained the last necessary vise for our 



96 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

passports, and then started for Rome. Our postillion 
wore a sort of uniform coat. The skirts were short, 
scarcely reaching the top of the saddle behind him ; for, 
a postillion, be it remembered, rides one of the horses, 
like a wagon-driver in Virginia. There were some 
patches of silver lace on the coat, and strips of red 
around the arms. His boots came above his knees, 
worn outside his pantaloons. His whole suit was rusty, 
and well worn. He had a long whip in his hand, and 
a cigar in his mouth. Our courier was mounted on the 
seat in front, and one of our party at his side ; and now, 
full of life, and in good spirits, we took the old Aure- 
lian way, lying for more than twenty-five miles right 
along upon the Mediterranean shore. Steamers and 
other vessels were constantly in sight. The country 
through which we passed, at the rate of eight Roman 
miles per hour, was productive, but poorly cultivated. 
Wheat was growing, and looked well, and thousands of 
sheep, watched by shepherds, were constantly in sight. 
On leaving the sea, and bearing off from the shore, 
while the blue waters of the Mediterranean were still 
in sight, we had a clear and distinct view of the dome 
of St. Peter's, at a distance of fifteen miles, which look- 
ed like a great airy balloon, ascending from the earth, 
and hovering in the air. This continued in sight until 
we reached the city ; and for several miles before we 
entered the gates, as the twilight faded, and the broad 
full moon rose before us, that proud dome, as seen tow- 
ering above the intervening hills at every turn of the 
road, appeared to be only a few hundred yards from us. 
At every change of horses and postillions, our courier 
had a quarrel about the pourboire, or postillion's fee. 
This we left him to settle, as it was understood in our 
contract with him that he must do our quarrelling. All 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 97 

along the way, and especially at the stands where we 
changed horses, we were beset by beggars, in the form 
of little boys and girls, who, the moment we stopped, 
would congregate around our carriage, and set up the 
most piteous cries for alms. It was not difficult to per- 
ceive that they begged in a sort of professional way. 
They were not actually pinched with hunger. On leav- 
ing the stands they would hold out their hats and hands, 
and run by our carriage, for a mile at a time, and beg 
us at every step for bread or money. We found that the 
best way to get rid of them was, to take off our hats, 
and hold them out to them, and commence begging 
them. This would amuse them, and they would break 
out into a laugh and instantly desist. Once or twice 
I made them scamper away, by taking up a spy-glass 
which was in the carriage, and presenting it at them, 
as a gun, drawing it out suddenly, with a sharp click, 
as I brought it to my eye. This frightened them, and 
they instantly dropped behind. 

As we neared the city the country appeared to be 
finely cultivated ; and a few fine houses were seen in 
the moonlight. Presently we saw more of the dome of 
Saint Peter's, which seemed to be within a stone's cast 
of us. Our carriage rattled over the paved roads under 
the walls of the city, an d in a few moments we entered 
the gates, where we paused until our courier had our 
passports registered and lodged with the police, and 
had complied with the necessary formalities to our 
temporary sojourn in the city. On we drove through 
the streets, passing in front of Saint Peter's, across the 
Tiber on a stone bridge, at the foot of the castle of St. 
Angelo. and on till we stopped at the Hotel d'Angle- 
terre. This we found full, every room occupied, and 
no space for another individual. Next we tried the 

5 



98 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Hotel de I'Europe. Here, too, every room was taken. 
The landlady, however, said that, if we could not find 
rooms elsewhere, which she very much doubted, she 
would put some beds in a public saloon for us, and 
make it as comfortable as she could for the night. We" 
tried a half dozen other places, but found no apartment 
unoccupied; whereupon, at a late hour of the night, 
cold, hungry, fatigued, and sleepy, we returned to the 
Hotel de I'Europe, where we got our supper, and soon 
found the promised saloon confortably fitted up for the 
accommodation of our party. 

My weary fellow-travellers are now snoring away in 
the room in which I write. It is past twelve o'clock at 
night. The winds are sighing around my quiet apart- 
ment. The bustle and uproar in the streets are hushed 
into profound silence. A strange sense of loneliuess 
comes over me, as here, far away from home, I sit in this 
old city, which from early boyhood I have longed to 
see, and write these pages. 

This is Passion Week. The city is full of visiters. 
To-morrow I shall witness some of the ceremonies at 
Saint Peter's. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 99 



CHAPTER y. 



ROME PASSION WEEK. 



No letters. — Bewildered. — Tower. — View. — Topography of Rome. 
Seven Hills. — Forum. — Coliseum. — Miserere at the Sistine Chapel. 
— Saint Peter's. — Back to my Hotel. — Thursday in Holy Week. — 
High Mass, Pope blesses the People. — Ceremony of washing Feet, — 
Churches without Seats. — Vatican — Library. — Saint Peter's — 
Dimensions — Ascent of the Dome — Subterranean Apartments. — 
Capitol Galleries. — Church, Ara Coeli. 

Rome, Wednesday night, March 19. — A momentary 
sadness came over me this morning on learning that 
there were no letters for me from home. Some of our 
party were more fortunate than myself. More than four 
weeks have elapsed since I left New York, and, as yet, 
no tidings from the dear ones left behind. 

A stranger in Rome scarcely knows where to begin his 
survey of the ruins, palaces, churches, and other objects 
of interest and curiosity which claim a visit from him. 
He wants to see Saint Peter's, the Coliseum, the Capitol, 
and fifty other things all at once. We followed the 
suggestion of Murray's most excellent guide-book, and 
went, first, to the tower of the Capitol for the purpose 
of getting the localities and relative positions of the 
most prominent and leading objects fixed in our minds. 
The tower is high, and from it we had a commanding 
view of the whole city and its environs ; and here we 
spent at least two hours studying the topography of 
Rome. We looked down on the old Forum which lies 



100 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

on the south side of the Capitol. The accumulated 
rubbish of ages has been removed, and the pavement 
of the Forum, over which the old Romans strode, is 
laid bare, while the same well-constructed arches and 
beautiful columns that met the eyes of the contempo- 
raries of Caesar still lift their striking forms around this 
ancient arena in which the most gifted orators of the 
most powerful republic that ever existed poured forth 
their captivating strains of eloquence. The Arch of 
Septimus Severus, the remains of the Temple of Ves- 
pasian, the Arch of Titus, and the Via Sacra, are all 
near the Forum, and all may be seen at the same view, 
looking in a southeastern direction from the Capitol 
tower. Nor is the Coliseum remote from this point of 
vision. It may also be taken in at the same view. The 
Arch of Constantino is near the Coliseum, and spans 
the main street, leading southward, out of the city, by 
the old Appian Way. Just south of the tower is the 
Palatine hill, crowned with the ruins of the palace of 
the Caesars. The Caelian hill bears to the left; the 
Aventine to the right ; the Esquiline and Quirinal 
!iills range on the east and northeast of the Capitoline 
iiill, and the Yiminal occupies the space between the 
i^squiline and Quirinal. It was not difficult to fix the 
outline of the seven hills of Rome, and yet none of 
them, at present, except the Capitoline, and, perhaps, 
the Palatine and Quirinal, are very prominent and con- 
spicuous. The Tarpeian Rock is but a short distance 
I'rom the Capitol on the southwest. The present mod- 
ern city is situated principally north of the Capitoline 
hill, and occupies a semicircular belt on the left bank 
of the Tiber, enclosed by the Quirinal, Yiminal, and 
Capitoline hills — what was the Campus Martins of the 
olden time. The dome of Saint Peter's is nearly west 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 101 

from the tower of the Capitol. Saint Peter's is on the 
other side or right bank of the Tiber. The course of 
the Tiber is from the north, nearly directly south through 
the city, the greater part of the city being on the left 
bank, and the principal part of the ruins also ; but Saint 
Peter's and the Vatican and the castle of Saint Angelo 
are on the right bank or west side of the river. By 
far the greater portion of the population is on the left 
bank or eastern side of the Tiber. 

From the tower the walls of the city may be traced 
by the eye nearly around its entire extent ; and beyond 
the walls the wide-spreading campagna, stretching from 
the Sabine hills on the north, southward beyond the 
Pontine marshes, and from the base of the Volscian 
mountains on the east to the Mediterranean on the 
west — a vast, undulating plain, of boundless fertility 
and strange beauty. For many miles tlie yellow wa- 
ters of the Tiber may be traced across the campagna. 
Monte Mario rises gracefully on its bosom, with its vil- 
las and fine plantations. Still farther back, the eye 
reposes on Monte Cimino ; or, bearing down the Yol- 
scian chain of mountains, it distinctly marks Monte 
Cavi, on the summit of which may be seen the ruins of 
the temple of Jupiter Latialis ; and, in another direc- 
tion, the rocky brow of the ancient Soracte is seen rising 
in isolated grandeur on the horizon ; while Albano, 
Frascati, Colonna, and Tivoli — beautiful towns and 
villages seen in the distance — are all in' full view, 
perched on the sides and summits of the mountains, 
forming interesting features in this unrivalled land- 
scape. 

On the tower of the Capitol this morning we met 
with parties of visiters from various parts of the world. 
Ladies and gentlemen were here, speaking different Ian- 



102 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

guages ; old men with gray hairs, and young men fresh 
from the seats of learning, with the dew of their youth 
upon them ; old ladies with the wrinkles of age, and 
gay and blooming maidens sparkling with jewels, were 
all here, intent on the same object. We all came down 
from the old gray tower of the Capitol feeling that we 
had taken a bird's-eye view of the city which would be 
of material service to us in our future explorations and 
study of its almost numberless objects of interest and 
attraction to the stranger in Rome. 

Descending from the elevated point of observation 
from which we had surveyed the glorious and wonder- 
ful picture spread out to our gaze, we passed through 
the Forum ; thence to the Coliseum, where we wan- 
dered beneath the shadow of this stupendous ruin, as- 
cended its broken walls, rambled around its galleries, 
clambered among its decaying and crumbling arches, 
gathered flowers from the crevices of the rocks, cut 
walking-sticks growing out of the walls more than a 
hundred feet above-ground, and from the topmost point 
of our attainable ascent took a general survey of the 
Coliseum itself, and of the scenery around. But, as I 
intend visiting these places again, I shall attempt no 
description of them at present. 

This afternoon I went to the Sistine Chapel, adjoin- 
ing Saint Peter's on the north, to hear the Miserere 
chanted or sung. The Miserere attracts an immense 
crowd at the Sistine Chapel, as it is sung in the pres- 
ence of the pope. But no gentleman is admitted with- 
out a dress-QOdX^ and a full suit of black. Three of my 
party had //*ocA:-coats ; but we fell upon a device by 
which we all passed. This was done by pinning up 
the corners of the skirts, so as to make them appear 
like dress-coats. We ransacked our trunks and got a 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 103 

supply of pins, with which fair hands had provided us 
before leaving home, and I undertook the work of trans- 
forming the frock-coats into dress-coats, which I did 
very much to the satisfaction of the young gentlemen. 
When we arrived at the chapel, we found it already 
crowded to suffocation. We left our hats and over- 
coats with our courier outside, and passing the line of 
soldiers stationed around the door, who of course ex- 
amined our coats, we commenced pressing, crowding, 
squeezing, and inching along, to get within the door of 
the chapel. Sometimes we would get upon the thresh- 
old, and maintain our position for a few moments, and 
then the sudden rush of an officer, or of some persons 
who were determined to get out from the confinement 
within, would dislodge us from our position and thrust 
us out again into the spacious hall, where many hun- 
dreds were still pressing forward, hoping to get a place 
in the chapel. Finally we got inside. My party pressed 
forward and got foothold. I was not able to advance ; 
and, finding myself pressed into uncomfortably small 
dimensions, and the experiment still made to reduce me 
yet smaller, I actually became alarmed for my safety, 
and determined to make my retreat as expeditiously as 
possible. I succeeded in getting back into the hall, 
where I stood for more than two hours, listening to the 
sublime and touching piece of music called the Mise- 
rere, of which almost every one has heard something. 
It is a piece of music set to several psalms, the last of 
which is the fifty-first psalm, commencing " Have mercy 
upon me, God !" A triangle of tall wax-candles is 
prepared previously to the service, and lighted ; one of 
which is extinguished at the close of each psalm, till 
only one is left burning. This is removed during the 
singing of the fifty-first psalm — which is the Miserere 



104 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

properly — and carried beliind the altar, and on its con- 
clusion is again brought back ; the whole said to be sig- 
nificant of the light on earth during our Savior's pres- 
ence, his deatk, descent into the tomb, and his resurrec- 
tion, with the circumstances attending it. 

I really do not know whether I realized my expecta- 
tions in hearing the Miserere sung or not, the music is 
so unlike anything to which I have been accustomed. 
The first psalm or lamentation — perhaps two or three 
pieces — were chanted. This became monotonous and 
tiresome to me. But the music changed, and began to 
swell out into a glorious volume of sweet, full, and me- 
lodious strains, that astonished and delighted me. I 
am utterly unable to comprehend, and certainly can 
not explain, how the human voice can be so modulated, 
and how a score of voices can be so blended — melting, 
by insensible confluence, into each other, and expiring 
in vanishing strains — the whole producing one continu- 
ous stream of music, that flows on, like a mighty river, 
between banks of unequal width, and in a channel of un- 
equal depth — now narrow and deep, now broad and 
more shallow ; always and everywhere smooth ; never 
chafed, never noisy ; but calm and unruffled, gliding on 
through smiling landscapes, and solemn, sombre forests, 
ever seeking an ocean of rest, which it never seems to 
find. But I can not describe it. It never was sung 
elsewhere as in the Sistine Chapel. It can not be trans- 
ferred to any other place. It requires a lifetime to learn 
to sing it, and it can be perpetuated nowhere else save 
in Saint Peter's and the Vatican Chapel. At first, and 
for a long time, I thought there were some of the finest 
female voices blended in that volume of sweet sounds 
that I had ever heard : at a later stage of the protract- 
ed piece, I learned that all were male voices. 



, NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 105 

I have never seen an adequate description of the 
singing of the Miserere ; and I really do not think it 
can be so described in words as to give to a mere 
reader any true conception of it. It is grand, and in 
some parts deeply touching ; but I rather incline to the 
opinion that exaggerated praise has been bestowed upon 
it by a large majority of writers. 

I lingered a while in Saint Peter's after the close of 
the Miserere^ and tried to imbibe the influences of the 
twilight hour in this vast and stupendous edifice. The 
distant lamps, glimmering under the lofty dome, looked 
like twinkling stars on a hazy sky ; the last touching 
strains of the Miserere^ which is sung in Saint Peter's 
also, commencing half an hour later than in the Sistine 
Chapel, were faintly echoed from the high arches, and 
came back like the far-wandering notes of angels' mu- 
sic, shaken by ethereal hands from the golden harp- 
strings of the skies ; the priests and singers were gli- 
ding by me on noiseless feet ; the chimes of far-off bells 
stole through the incense-perfumed air ; the dying hum 
of the immense multitude retiring from the great cathe- 
dral, gradually subsided into silence, and the solitude 
became oppressive. Quietly and thoughtfully I moved 
over the pavement toward the door, pushed aside the 
thick leather curtain that guards the portal, and, pas- 
sing across the piazza, mingled with the living tide 
that rolled along the streets leading toward the hotels 
and the denser parts of the city. The sun had sunk 
behind the hills that engirdle Rome on the west, as I 
passed under the shadow of the castle of Saint Angelo, 
and across the Tiber, and along the narrow lanes, 
walled in by high and dingy old houses, and hurried 
onward to my lodgings in the Hotel de I'Europe. 

March 20, Thursday night. — This morning I attend- 



106 - RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ed tlie ceremonies at Saint Peter's. After the celebra- 
tion of High Mass in the Sistine Chapel at nine o'clock, 
there was a procession of distinguished ecclesiastics 
that moved from the Sistine to the Pauline Chapel, 
where the pope in person, deposited the holy elements. 
Just before twelve o'clock the bells were rung, and 
thousands upon thousands of the visiters and citizens 
assembled in front of Saint Peter's to witness the cere- 
mony of blessing the people by the pope. The bells 
ceased, and presently the great pontiff, attended by his 
cardinals, and borne in liis chair of spiritual power, with 
the large fans of ostrich feathers, in which are set the 
eyes of peacock's feathers, spread before him, made his 
appearance on the balcony. The military which were 
drawn up on the piazza received him with applause ; 
cannon were fired at the castle of Saint Angelo, and 
the immense multitude that thronged the open space in 
front of the church, uncovered their heads, and stood 
in silence, and expectancy. The drums and cannon 
ceased, and a cardinal presented a large open book be- 
fore the pope, standing in front of his majesty, but bow- 
ing his head so that the pope could be seen above him. 
He read something, I know not what, in an intoned or 
chanting style, and the cardinals responded, " Amen !" 
at different pauses or breaks, in the same tone and style. 
When he closed the book, and it was removed, the 
pope arose to his feet, and the vast multitude fell, as 
with one accord on their knees upon the pavement — 
men, women, and children, of all ranks and conditions 
of society, and in a loud and ringing voice, with his 
head elevated, and his chest thrust forward, and his 
hands crossed on his protuberant bosom, he pronounced 
his blessing in Latin. When he had closed his bene- 
diction, which, on this day, I think is restricted to the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 107 

visiters present, and to the citizens of Rome, the cardi- 
nal deacon read the bull of plenary indulgence from a 
small slip of paper, printed in Italian, and then drop- 
ped the document from his fingers among the people, 
who scrambled, as if struggling for their lives, to see 
who should catch it, and bear it off as a sort of sacred 
relic. As the pope retired, the cannon of Saint Angelo 
were again fired, and the people seemed to rejoice as 
though some great blessing had really been conferred 
upon them. 

There was a rush to get back into the church to wit- 
ness the ceremony of washing the feet of the thirteen 
priests by the pope. The cro'vd was so great that I 
saw I should run the imminent danger of being crushed 
to death in the scuffle to get a place, and I therefore had 
to forego the privilege of seeing Pope Pius IX. wash 
and kiss the dirty feet of these honored guests. After 
the ceremony of washing the feet, these same thirteen 
priests were conducted to a large upper apartment of 
Saint Peter's, in which a sumptuous meal, called a sup- 
per, was prepared for them, where the pope, in person, 
again served them. The whole is ridiculous and silly 
enough. 

Nothing can be more fatiguing than a day spent in 
Saint Peter's during Holy Week. There are no seats 
on which to rest one's self, except such as are prepared 
and reserved for distinguished visiters and officials. 
The whole multitude of many thousands are under the 
necessity of remaining on their feet all day. One of 
the peculiarities of the great Catholic churches of Eu- 
rope is, the absence of seats, such as are everywhere 
found in American houses of religious worship. In 
some of them chairs are provided for the worshippers ; 
one on which to sit, and another in front of it, on which 



108 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

to kneel. These are all stacked up in a small compass, 
except when called into requisition by the congregation 
assembled for worship. But even this provision forms 
the exception, rather than the general rule. The pro- 
yision for seating the congregation in Saint Peter's is 
very limited. 

March 21, Friday night. — This morning was dark 
and gloomy. The rain had fallen nearly all night, the 
streets were muddy, and everything forbidding. Our 
courier spoke discouragingly of the weather. " When 
it begins to rain in Rome," said he, " it never stops." 

Our courier, Suderie is his name, is a rare genius in 
some respects. He is very accommodating, but always 
likes to have his own way. He is a Roman Catholic 
by education, and always crosses himself with holy 
water on entering churches. " Suderie," inquired I, 
" how often do you go to church ?" — " Once a year," 
was his prompt reply. — " Why not oftener ?" — " That is 
often enough. I go at the end of the year and that 
does for the whole year." — " How often do you go to 
confession ?" — " Once in twenty-five years," he answer- 
ed. " I settle up my account quarterly." 

But to return. The day improved as it advanced. 
We started out on a tour of sight-seeing. As yet we 
have done but little in this way. First we went to the 
Vatican. But most of the galleries were closed. Mon- 
days and Thursdays are the public days at the Vatican 
palace. This being Holy Week we find most of the 
large and attractive galleries closed. Indeed, many of 
the shops and other places of business have been shut 
up a part or the whole of this week since Tuesday. 
The custode, however, admitted us to the library 
apartments of the Vatican, not to see the manuscripts 
and books, but to ramble through the spacious halls, 



iNOTES OF EUrvOPEAN TRAVEL. 109 

and soo the paintings, basreliefs, frescoes, antiquities 
from the catacombs ; the costly presents, in the form 
of alabaster vases, expensive candelabra, mosaic tables, 
cabinets, etc., magnificent marble fonts and the like, 
made by kings, emperors, and lordly potentates, to the 
Vatican library. 

The principal room of the library extends at least 
one thousamd feet along the south side of the Vatican 
buildings, running east and west, overlooking the 
gardens and grounds of the palace. Passing south- 
ward out of the great hall we entered the immense 
double gallery, celebrated for its remarkable perspective 
effect. This gallery extends to the right and left, being 
entered at right angles, midway the gallery. The won- 
derful perspective effect is produced by doorways or 
passages from one division to another, being compara- 
tively small and narrow at the waist or point of en- 
trance, and growing wider and wider toward the 
extremities ; so that instead of contracting like a long, 
straight street, or like a railway track, the reverse 
takes place, and thus by destroying the usual impression 
caused by the angle of vision which draws parallel 
lines to a focal point, the remarkable perspective effect 
is produced. In looking from the centre to theYemote 
ends of the gallery, or in looking from one end of the 
gallery to the other, which though scarcely exceeding 
a thousand feet, it actually appears to be half a mile in 
length. 

The other galleries of the Vatican not being open 
to-day to the public, we went again to Saint Peter's, and 
spent several hours in a more minute and detailed 
examination and survey of this stupendous edifice. 
The proportions of this wonderful structure are so fine, 
and one part so admirably adjusted to another, that no 



110 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

me can judge accurately by the eye, of tlie distances, 
and magnitudes of the objects around him. The four 
main pillars that stand near the centre of the building, 
supporting the dome, are by no means out of just pro- 
portion, nor do they strike the eye as being very large, 
and yet they are two hundred and thirty-four feet each 
in circumference. This would give us a parallelogram, 
sixty feet by fifty-seven, for each of these pillars, 
quite as large as most of our city churches. And yet 
these four pillars, each as large as a city church, seem 
to occupy a very small space in this great building. 
Besides these, there are ten other pillars dividing the 
side-aisles, as they are called, from the nave, which 
occupy, each, as much space at the base as would form 
the foundation of a church of respectable dimensions. 
The dome is one hundred and ninety-five feet in diameter, 
and the inscription running around the base of the in- 
terior, is in letters, said to be six feet long, and yet, seen 
from below they do not appear to be more than a foot in 
length. And so of every other object that meets the 
eye. 

This being Good Friday all the mosaic pictures — 
and all the pictures in Saint Peter'' s are mosaics — 
are co^^red and concealed from the eye. To-morrow 
they will be exposed ; but Sunday is the high day. 

March 22, Saturday nig-ht. — This morning was 
again devoted to Saint Peter's, that great, inexhaus- 
tible, and never-failing source of instruction ; that sub- 
lime and attractive object of wonder, admiration, and 
surprise. One may visit this vast basilica, every day, 
for an indefinite period of time, and find something new 
and interesting at each successive visit. Having de- 
voted yesterday to the interior, we gave this morning, 
from nine till twelve o'clock, principally, to the out- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. Ill 

side. We made the ascent of the dome, and took a 
view from that lofty point of observation of one of the 
most wonderful and impressive landscapes in the world. 

From the first floor to the roof the ascent is very 
easy. One might ride up on horseback over the brick- 
paved and gently-inclined road, which is at least six 
or eight feet wide, and not as steep as many of the 
public highways in the mountainous sections of our 
country. If I am correctly informed, mules are fre- 
quently used in carrying heavy articles from the 
ground floor to the roof, which is more than two hun- 
dred and fifty feet above the pavement. 

On emerging from the path of ascent into the clear 
open air, and wide space upon the roof, it is hard to 
believe that one is actually on the roof of a house. 
There are various shops and habitations scattered 
about, and so extensive an area enclosed within the 
high battlements that surrounds the roof that one feels 
as though he were in the streets, or walking about the 
enclosures around private dwellings. It is not until a 
person reaches the roof that the vast proportions, and 
overwhelming size of tlie church and dome begin to be 
fully comprehended. The cupolas of the transepts, and 
the cupolas and towers of the chapels, rise up around him 
like the public buildings of a city, and far away above 
all the soaring dome swells up toward heaven, seeming 
now to be fully as remote as when viewed from the 
ground. The roof presents an air of great activity 
and animation. Parties are seen passing and repassing ; 
while here and there one may be seen reclining under 
the shade of a piece of statuary, or reposing by the 
side of a workshop or office, waiting for the return of 
some who have ascended the dome, or resting after the 
fatiguing walk up the steep road from below. 



112 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

From the roof the path to the summit of the dome 
lies between the outer and inner frames of this stupen- 
dous piece of work. The half of a small eggshell in a 
larger one ; the inner half being equidistant from the 
outer, at every point, will give the reader an idea of 
the form of the double dome. The stairway runs 
between the shells. There are two galleries running 
entirely around the inner surface of the dome which 
may be entered, either in the upward or downward 
route by doorways leading into them from the stairs. 
The first is not very far above the base of the dome, 
the other is some forty or fifty feet higher, from which 
a full view of the central part of the church below is 
presented. From these elevated galleries, which are 
scarcely discernible from below, one may look down 
almost perpendicularly upon the bronze canopy of the 
high altar in the centre of the church, and on the pas- 
sing crowd which seem to be as grasshoppers creeping 
about upon the pavement, so diminutive do they appear 
at this great elevation above them. From these galler- 
ies good views are obtained of the interior of the dome, 
and it is found that the frescoes of human and angelic 
forms, which appear from below to be only of the ordi- 
nary size, are, in fact, immense figures, of colossal pro- 
portions, in the strongest, and boldest style of frescoing, 
in order to m.ake them distinctly visible at so great a 
height. 

Continuing upward we reach a point where the pas- 
sage becomes narrow and more difficult of ascent, 
and finally we come to a ladder which stands perpen- 
dicularly. This is the last ascent into the ball on the 
top of the dome, on which the cross stands, which is the 
highest attainable point by the interior flight. The 
waist, or neck more properly, just below the ball, 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 113 

tliroiigli which one passes into the metallic globe, is very 
narrow, and a person very large in the girth could not 
get through it. We are now four hundred and twenty 
feet above the surface of the ground. The ball itself 
will hold, conveniently, at least a dozen persons at one 
time ; but with a hot sun pouring its rays upon it, the 
visiter will find it about as comfortable as a bake-oven 
when ready for cooking purposes. There is a ladder 
on the exterior that winds around the outer surface of 
the ball, by which one may ascend to the foot of the 
cross that surmounts the ball. This we were not per- 
mitted to ascend. It is said that the reason why persons 
are not now permitted to go up this ladder is, because 
an Englishman, a few years ago, in opposition to the 
orders of the guide or custode, ascended the ladder, 
and actually climbed to the top of the cross, which was 
deemed a very irreverent and offensive act. To pre- 
vent a repetition of such acts the custode will not allow 
any one to go outside, at the foot of the ladder which 
mounts up to the cross. At a point a little lower than 
this there is an outside gallery or parapet, surrounding 
the base of the ball on the top of the dome, where 
persons may rest, and enjoy the finest prospect in the 
world. I remained here this morning for more than an 
hour studying the various localities of Rome and the 
surrounding country. The Volscian mountains, the 
Apennines, and the Sabine hills, on the one hand, and the 
widespread campagna and the Mediterranean on the 
other, were all in full view. The position occupied by 
the French, in 1849, in suppressing the insurrection in 
Rome, was almost directly under the eye ; while the 
gardens of the Vatican, with their lovely walks and 
picturesque groves, hedges, cascades, and fountains, were 
all taken in at a glance, and the low, musical murmur 



il4 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the waters rose softly and sweetly to tlie ear as I 
feasted my eyes upon the enchanting pictures spread 
before me. The walls of the city could be distinctly 
traced in all directions, stretching over the hills and 
down the valleys ; while the turbid and yellow waters 
of the Tiber were visible for many a mile, winding 
through the campagna, sweeping with many a graceful 
curve through the city, and then hastening away to lose 
itself in the bright waters of the dark blue sea that lay 
sparkling in the sunlight far away on the outer skirts 
of that matchless plain that surrounds, on all sides, the 
city of Rome. 

On my way downward, I again stepped into the upper 
gallery of the interior of the dome, which is scarcely 
visible from below, or, at most, appears like a light 
moulding running round the inner cope of the dome, 
and here I was charmed with the delicious strains of 
music that came swelling up from the chapels far be- 
neath me, in which religious services were going on. One 
who has not enjoyed the treat of hearing the tones of 
the organ, and the sweeter notes of the human voice, 
woven into the most captivating web of song, as it 
reached me this morning, in the quiet, solemn, silent 
dome of Saint Peter's, can form no just estimate of the 
power of music over the human soul. It stirred all the 
latent emotions of my heart, and filled my eyes with 
tears. I could not tell why. It seemed to me as though 
I had gotten away from earth, and was in a far-off 
clime, where sorrow and sighing had fled and gone, and 
was listening to the chantings of the white-robed throng 
who stand on the " sea of glass, mingled with fire," 
that rests in placid beauty beneath the shadow of the 
eternal throne. The atmosphere around me was filled 
with incense ; angel forms were hovering above me, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 115 

while still from below there came up the pealing notes 
of music, softened by the distance that sounded like 
the minstrelsy and song of a happier clime. 

On descending to the lower floor I was conducted, 
with others, into the sacristy of the church, thence into 
the subterranean apartments, called " the Grotte Vati- 
cane." Our conductor led the way with a flaming flam- 
beau in his hand, which glared amid the gloom, reveal- 
ing the tombs of popes, and the old warrior kings ; 
bringing to light the dilapidated sarcophagi of the pre- 
fects of Rome, the statues of saints and martyrs, and 
the rude frescoes and paintings which had a place in a 
former church of the same name, which occupied the 
site of the present Saint Peter's. We occasionally met 
with some respectable bas-reliefs upon the walls ; but 
the great object of interest in these underground apart- 
ments of the church is the tomb of Saint Peter himself ! 
On entering the chapel in which this tomb is found, we 
were, of course, required to uncover our heads and walk 
softly, lest we should rudely invade the sanctity of the 
place or disturb the repose of the great apostle to whom 
were delivered the keys of the kingdom. This tomb 
occupies a place under, what is called, the altar of con- 
fession, and is immediately beneath the high altar of 
the basilica above ; the whole is just under the central 
point of the great dome. The remains of Saint Peter, 
as every good Catholic believes, are here, albeit there 
is no Neiv Testament proof that Saint Peter was ever 
in the city of Rome. The whole of it is an assumption 
without any other proof than the vague tradition of the 
Romish church. 

While in front of the altar of confession, we acci- 
dentally discovered what we had in vain inquired after 
of our guide ; namely, the ring, seal, and cross, deposit- 



116 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ed at this tomb by the Right Reverend Siliman Ives, 
Bishop of North Carolina, at the time of his recanta- 
tion and abjuration of Protestantism, and his adoption, 
in outward form, of what he had actually believed for 
several years, the Roman Catholic faith and religion. 
These sacred memorials and precious relics are con- 
tained in a sort of triangular case, some fifteen or eigh- 
teen inches in length, with a glass on the outward face 
of the triangle, through which the ring, seal, and cross, 
may be seen, and a gold plate with an inscription re- 
cording the date and circumstances of the recantation. 
And this is hung as a trophy on the tomb of Saint Pe- 
ter. The whole of it is ridiculous enough. I was 
anxious to find out how the inscription read. From the 
position we occupied it could not be made out by any 
of us. The guide got as near as he well could, and made 
an ineffectual effort to read it. Next our courier Su- 
derie tried it ; but without success. I asked him if it 
was in Italian or Latin. He said it was neither Italian 
nor French. I was then assisted in climbing up on the 
side of the tomb, and held in my position by our guide 
and courier, and found it in Latin, simply recording 
the fact and circumstances of the abjuration of Protes- 
tantism by Bishop Ives of North Carolina, in the United 
States of America, and his depositing the enclosed me- 
morials in pledge and token of his voluntary recantation 
of his heresy. 

From Saint Peter's, we went to the galleries of the 
Capitol. There are numerous paintings, and a large 
collection of statuary in these galleries. The paintings 
which interested me most were John the Baptist, by 
Correggio ; the " Rape of the Sabines," and " Judith," 
by Fra Bartilommeo ; the kneeling Magdalen, and some 
fine portraits. In the sculpture gallery, amid the many 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. IIT 

hundreds of pieces that surrounded me, I was most 
pleased with the famous statue of Antinous, found in 
Hadrian's villa; the "Dying Gladiator," and the 
"Venus of the Capitol ;" " Pliny's Doves ;" the bronze 
wolves and the bronze ducks found among some riiins on 
the Tarpeian Rock. The equestrian statue of Marcus 
Aurelius, in front of the Capitol, is said to be one of 
the finest in the world. For myself I like the eques- 
trian statue of Louis XIV., which stands on a public 
square in the city of Lyons, better than anything of the 
sort I have yet seen. 

From the gallery of statuary we went next into the 
old church, called Ara Coeli, which has the reputation 
of occupying the site of the temple of Jupiter Fere- 
trius, and stands on the Capitoline hill, immediately 
adjoining the gallery of statuary. It is of high an- 
tiquity, but extremely ugly. It was probably built witli 
the spoils of the palace of the Csesars. The floor is, en- 
tirely, of a very ancient style of mosaic, containing some 
rare stones. But the greatest object of interest in this 
church is what is called the Sanctissvmo Bambino; 
which is nothing more than a coarse, wooden figure of 
the infant Saviour. It has the reputation of having ef- 
fected some wonderful cures of the sick, which has 
gained for it a boundless popularity. Our courier told 
us some strange things about the Bambino. He said 
that when persons were very ill, and were given up by 
their physicians they would send for the sacred Bambi- 
no, and if they were going to die it would turn pale 
and weep blood ; but if the person was going to recover 
it would look fresh, and red, and cheerful. Votive 
offerings of immense value have been made, by wealthy 
families and individuals, to this wooden doll baby, and 
it is now estimated to be as wealthy in jewels and dia- 



118 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

monds, as the pope himself. Gibbon, the polished wri- 
ter and historian, was seated in this old church when he 
conceived his purpose of writing the '' History of the 
Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire." 

There is also an apartment in this churcli, in which 
are exhibited, at the Christmas festivals, a representa- 
tion of the manger in which Christ was born, and many 
other things connected with his nativity. As we passed 
the door of this apartment my attention was attracted 
by its rustic appearance, and I asked our courier, who 
was interpreting the explanations of the church guide, 
what was the object of that uncouth and strange estab- 
lishment in a church. He began to explain ; and with 
great simplicity said : " I suppose you have heard the 
story about Jesus Christ being born in a stable." I 
told him I had. He then proceeded to tell all about it, 
and said that the very stable, feeding trough, and all 
the appurtenances thereunto belonging, were there, and 
in the custody of that church. Of course no one dis- 
puted it. We passed out of the church and descended 
to the street by a flight of one hundred and twenty-four 
steps of Grecian marble, said to have belonged to the 
Temple of Venus and Rome. These steps landed us in 
the street that runs up to the north front of the Capitol, 
through which we soon found our way to theCorsa — 
the great principal thoroughfare of Rome — from which, 
after ten minutes' brisk walk, we turned into the Piazza 
di Spagna, and soon were at our hotel. The day has 
been a little damp and disagreeable, with occasional 
showers of rain, and the state of the weather by no 
means favorable to my old bronchial disease. 

Wearied and worn out with the day's labor, and in 
penning tliese recollections of what I have seen, I close 
for the night. 



NOTES OF EUROPPJAN TRAVEL. 119 



CHAPTER YI. 

EASTER SUNDAY IN ROME. 

Day ushered in with Cannon, — St. Peter's. — Procession. — Celebration 
of High Mass by the Pope. — Music. — Splendid Pageant. — Pope 
blesses the People from the Balcony of St. Peter's. — Crowd of Per- 
sons. — The Pope. — Cardinal's Carriages. — People's Hatred of the 
High Churcli Dignitaries. 

EoME, Monday^ March 24. — Yesterday morning, be- 
ing Easter Sunday, the day was ushered in by the fir- 
ing of cannon, and the ringing of bells, reminding an 
American of the dawn of the fourth of July in one of our 
large cities, where the anniversary of our national inde- 
pendence is celebrated with spirit. Saint Peter's was 
the point of greatest attraction. Thousands upon thou- 
sands were crowding the streets, and pressing on toward 
this spot, by eight o'clock in the morning. At nine 
o'clock, the services opened by a grand procession in 
which the pope was borne into Saint Peter's, mounted on 
his papal throne, with his triple crown on his head, and 
sheltered by a superb canopy, attended by a retinue of 
magnificently attired cardinals, and other high church 
dignitaries, bearing the fans of ostrich-feathers before 
him. He was carried to the high altar under the dome, 
and put down; whereupon he commenced the prepara- 
tory services of high mass, which he celebrated in per- 
son. The whole service was upon a grand and impo- 
sing scale. The music was, in my judgment, far superior 
even to the Miserere in the Sistine Chapel, fine as the 



120 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Miserere confessedly was. There was a magnificent 
brass band, composed of a large number of instruments 
in the hands of accomplished musicians, which perform- 
ed, in an elegant style of execution, at two or three dif- 
ferent times during the ceremonies ; and for the first 
time in my life, I had the pleasure of hearing a brass 
band, in full blast, in a house large enough to give full 
scope to the music, and in fact contribute to its sublim- 
ity and effect, without any of the harsh, sharp, and 
stunning sounds, which so much detract from the enjoy- 
ment of the music, where a band is played in a house 
of ordinary dimensions. Indeed, it seems to me, that 
Saint Peter's, more than any other edifice I ever saw, 
is exactly adapted to give compass and effect to a full 
band of music, such as performed on yesterday morning 
during the celebration of high mass. I say nothing of 
the suitableness of a brass band of music to the solemn 
sacramental services of the Lord's Supper. But the 
whole scene, at the period of the elevation of the host, 
was magnificent. The grand and sublime notes of mu- 
sic rolling out through the vast basilica, sweeping on 
to the remotest chapels, filling the high, soaring arches, 
and swelling up into the resounding and expansive 
dome, which spread itself like a firmament above ; the 
glitter of arms ; the glancing of bayonets ; the passing 
to and fro of the gorgeously-robed cardinals, bearing 
the insignia of high ecclesiastical authority ; the elegant- 
ly-caparisoned military ofi&cers, and diplomatic corps ; 
the ascending clouds of perfumed incense, rising from 
golden censers swayed by white-fingered priests ; the 
twinkling of wax-candles, like star-lights in a dusky sky, 
and the great multitude of spell-bound spectators and 
worshippers, thronging and crowding the nave, tran- 
septs, side aisles, and chapels, presented a spectacle to 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 121 

my eyes, as I stood upon a marble altar railing near the 
centre of the church, which time nor distance can ever 
clTace from my mind. 

At the close of the consecration of the elements the 
pope returned to the tribune which occupies the west- 
ern end of the nave, where the great chair of Saint Peter 
is erected, and there, amidst the homage of the sub- 
ordinate ecclesiastics in attendance upon his person, 
the chalice was borne to him with immense pomp and 
ceremony ; those who bore it, passing slowly and solemn- 
ly between kneeling ranks of soldiers, and surrounded 
by prostrate thousands of Roman Catholics, where his 
mitred majesty, sitting on his spiritual throne, drew 
the wine into his mouth through a silver tube, as a 
puling infant sucks its tea from a bottle. At the end 
of all this ceremony which occupied two or three long 
hours, the pope was again mounted on the shoulders of 
priests, seated in his chair of authority, as the vice- 
gerent of Jesus Christ, and l)orne from the high altar, 
through ranks of kneeling soldiers, down the whole 
length of the nave of the church, and was then con- 
ducted to the balcony above, as on last Thursday, 
where, after the firing of cannon at the castle of St. 
Angelo, the ringing of the bells on St. Peter's, and the 
salutations of the military drawn up in front of the 
church, he went through with the farce of blessing the 
people again, extending his benedictions to the whole 
world, with which the ceremonies of the morning 
closed, and the immense concourse of people, numbering 
more than fifty thousand, dispersed. 

I was not a little amused at some of the incidents 
that occurred during the morning, in and about Saint Pe- 
ter's. No gentleman was allowed to enter within the 
line of soldiers drawn around the high altar, during 

6 



122 " RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the celebration of mass unless lie had on a full suit of 
black, and a dress-coat. I saw a number who had on 
frock-coats refused admittance ; but, by withdrawing 
a few moments, with the use of some pins, they trans- 
formed their coats into the style required, by pinning 
up the corners of the skirts, and on returning were 
admitted without a word. The crowd was so dense, 
near the line of soldiers, that one ran considerable risk 
of sustaining serious injury by attempting to squeeze 
into the enclosed space. At one time I became jammed 
up in a most awkward position against a lady who was 
standing on the base moulding of a pilaster. I looked 
up into her face, and begged her to excuse me as I 
could not help myself. She saw my utterly helpless 
condition, and laughed right' heartily, perhaps as much 
at my ineffectual efforts to extricate myself from the 
awkward position into which I was thrown, as at the 
beseeching manner in which I implored her pardon for 
a seeming rudeness. 

The crowd out-of-doors, in front of Saint Peter's, at 
the time of the pope's benediction, was scarcely less 
dense than in the church during the ceremony of high 
mass. I was greatly amused at a frisky little dandy 
of a fellow, who was dressed in the extreme of the 
fashion. His beaver was neatly brushed and glossy : 
his hair was redolent of perfume, and just from under 
the barber's hand ; his gloves were of Paris make and 
lit ; his new dress-coat was buttoned closely round hif 
body, and set handsomely on his well-formed person 
In one hand he held a delicate black cane, and in the 
other a quizzing-glass. He became greatly disconcerted 
at the rude jostlings which he encountered from th( 
common people. First he received a jolt on this side, 
and then on that ; now a smash-up in front, and then ? 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 123 

thump in the rear. His hat was knocked off his 
head, and his stick out of his hand. He bristled up, 
and fended off. Then somebody stepped on his toes, 
and he became furious. He pushed and kicked and 
knocked, and kept up a constant muttering and snap- 
ping all the time. I really began to fear the man would 
go into a fit. 

I was several times very near the pope during the 
day, and must confess that I was favorably impressed 
with his face. His expression is placid and benignant. 
He is not tall, but has a fine, robust person, and looks 
as though he enjoyed a good dinner, and a bottle of 
wine. 

On my return to the hotel, between Saint Peter's and 
the castle of Saint Angelo, which stands just on the 
brink of the Tiber, I saw at one time not less than 
thirty cardinals' carriages. These splendid coaches 
are finislied in a most superb style ; the horses are beau- 
tiful animals, and the harness covered with gold and 
silver plating. The drivers and fgotmen, three of the 
latter generally to each carriage, wear short breeches, 
white stockings, and knee-buckles, cocked hats trim- 
med with silver lace, and coats of a peculiar style, with 
long skirts and strips of silver lace round the collar, 
down the front, and in divers other places. The old 
cardinals, dressed in a most gorgeous and magnificent 
style, sat like lords upon their easy cushioned seats, and 
scarcely deigned to look upon the foot-passengers that 
tlironged the streets by their side. They are men of 
immense wealth, and no class of men is more cordially 
hated and despised, especially by the restless, revolu- 
tionary spirits, many of whom are in Rome, than these 
cardinals. An intelligent mechanic said of them: 
" They preach self-denial to us, and yet they live upon 



124 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the fat of the land. They tell us we must not love the 
world or crave its riches, while they amass their mil- 
lions and build up their splendid villas ; they tell us, 
poor devils, to be satisfied and content with our con- 
dition, while they luxuriate in plenty and live without 
restraint." There are elements at work in Rome and 
throughout Italy that are only kept in restraint by the 
presence of the French soldiery. Remove this restraint, 
and an irruption, a thousand times more destructive 
and appalling than the overflowings of the lava tide 
from the crater of Vesuvius, will pour its irresistible 
and devastating deluge over the smiling plains of Italy. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 125 



CHAPTER YII. 

ROME — NOTES. 

Illumination of Saint Peter's. — Sunday in Eorae. — Pantheon. — Cam- 
pana Villa. — Sacred Stairway. — Albani Villa. — Fireworks, Monday 
Night. — Churches. — Santa Maria della Vittoria. — Baths of Diocle- 
tian. — Santa Maria degli Angeli. — Old Basilica, San Lorenzo, outside 
the City.. — Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. — Saint John Lateran. — 
Santa Maria Maggiore. — Pincian Hill. — Pope's Palace and the Qui- 
rinal Gardens. — Rospigliosi Palace. — Guide's Aurora. — Barbarina 
Palace. — Beatrice Cenci. — Private Studios. 

Rome, Monday, March 24. — The illumination of 
Saint Peter's last night — Easter-Sunday — was every 
way equal to what I had anticipated from the represen- 
tations of travellers, and the descriptions contained in 
the guide-books. About dusk, from three to four thou- 
sand candles, stuck in small earthen candlesticks, and 
concealed by a cylindrical paper-lamp, some ten or 
twelve inches high, were lighted, as the preparatory step 
to the grand illumination. These candles or lamps were 
arranged up and down the columns, and across the walls 
in the front of the whole church ; then along the whole 
line of the exterior cornice, from side to side, in double 
rows ; then upon the roof, and up and down, and around 
the dome, on the ball surmounting the dome, and even 
up to the very top of the cross. The whole church was 
thus covered with these lamps, not in a confused and 
irregular way, but arranged with the nicest order, and 
in reference to the best effect. Besides these there 
were rows of lamps extending around the whole of the 



126 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

piazza, upon tlie roof, and on the columns and statuary. 
These lamps continued to burn until about eight o'clock, 
when, at the first stroke of the bell, new lights began to 
flash out, bright and beautiful, in the intervening spaces 
between the candles or smaller lamps, and before the 
clock had struck five times, several thousands of these 
larger and more brilliant lamps had burst out into 
a glorious blaze, all over the church, climbing up the 
roof, running up the sides of the dome, and mounting 
up to the top of the cross, and darting round the circling 
columns and roof of the piazza, almost entirely eclipsing 
the smaller lamps, which twinkled like glow-worms, in 
the midst of the refulgent blaze of the great flambeaux, 
thus magically lighted, and gushing forth without any 
obstruction from paper or other concealment. It was 
a grand and si^lendid spectacle. It was like the unfold- 
ing of a great night-blooming cereus, blossoming in 
gorgeous glory and magnificence in the darkness, only^ 
broken by the fainter light of smaller lamps, which 
seemed to have been lighted to reveal the expanding 
and bursting forth of the great night-blooming flower. 
There was something like magic in this illumination, 
and the church looked like some enchanted castle, sud- 
denly revealed in the dark. From the front of the 
church, I hastened away, more than a mile, to the sum- 
mit of the Pincian hill, in the eastern part of the city, 
to get a view of the illumination from this elevated and 
distant point. I stood for a while in the darkness, and 
gazed upon the sublime spectacle before me, and then 
descending the steps to the Piazza di Spagna, I soon 
found my way to my apartments at the hotel. 

Sunday in Rome is no Sabbath. Shops are everywhere 
open. Public amusements are going on. I did not, 
even in Paris, witness as shameful a desecration of the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 127 

Sabbath, as I did yesterday in Rome. If the pope has 
the power which his triple crown is designed to sym 
bolize, and is the vicegerent of Jesus Christ on earth 
he exercises that authority to but little purpose in this 
city. The fact is, he has but little power, so far as the 
practical operations are concerned, and if the French 
soldiers were removed from Rome, the pope could not 
prevent a recurrence of the revolutionary movements 
of 1849. To-day I have been busy, and am scarcely 
able to make notes of all I have seen. 

First, to the Pantheon, now a Catholic church. A 
dozen priests were celebrating mass. We passed about 
the edifice, examined the busts, the tomb of Raphael, the 
artist ; read our guide-books, and interchanged opin- 
ions, without at all disturbing the priests in their wor- 
ship. They sung very finely. Besides the priests there 
were not half a dozen persons present. They seemed 
to do their work in a sort of professional and mechani- 
cal way. Next we paused at Trajan's Column and 
Forum. We ascended to the top of the column, by an 
interior flight of stairs, and had a fine view. Descend- 
ing we wandered about the forum ; picked up some 
fragments of marble as mementoes ; plucked a few flow- 
ers, and left for other objects of interest and attraction. 
Passing the Coliseum, we made our way to the villa 
of Campana, which is situated on the Coelian hill, and 
not remote from the St. John Lateran Basilica. This 
villa is a gem in its way. It belongs to Cavaliere Cam- 
pana, a man of great wealth, and fine taste, whose 
palace is in the city, in which he has a museum, con- 
taining a rare and select variety of curiosities, in the 
way of Etruscan vases, sarcophagi, jewelry, statuary, 
paintings, etc. He has removed a large number of 
pieces of statuary to his villa. This lovely spot must 



128 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

be seen to be appreciated. No description can give one 
a correct idea of it. It embraces an area of some ten 
or fifteen acres, in which there is a great variety of sur- 
face, which has been vastly improved by landscape gar- 
dening and architecture. There is a large building, 
of several apartments, filled with statuary. The gar- 
dens are beautifully diversified, and are full of shrub- 
bery, flowers, fountains, artificial lakes, grottoes and 
bowers. One wanders along a graded path, covered 
with snowy pebbles, which winds down into quiet se- 
cluded spots, and then, by the margin of sleeping waters, 
over rustic bridges, and by gushing fountains, where the 
clear, crystal stream pours from the mouth of a crouch- 
ing lion, or spouts from the beak of a marble bird. 
Here we pass an aviary, vocal with the song of birds, 
and there a burrow filled with sportive rabbits ; in one 
place a lake or pool, over which majestic swans glide 
like spectres in a dream ; in another, a dark hidden 
grotto, where the marble statuary peers out in the gloom 

like ghosts in the deepening twilight There never 

was a sweeter day in Italy than this day, and its bright- 
ness has greatly enhanced the delights and pleasures 
arising from the sights I have seen. 

Leaving the villa of Campana, grateful to the prince- 
ly proprietor for his liberality in allowing strangers to 
visit it, we passed the famous " Scala Santa," or sacred 
stairway. There were fourteen penitents, at one time, 
climbing these steps, on their knees, while I stood be- 
low and watched them in their upward ascent, saying 
their prayers, and kissing the steps as they ascended. 
By one of the parallel staircases I ascended to the 
Gothic chapel at the summit, called the sanctum sancto- 
rum, and peeped in through an iron grate, before which 
the penitents kneel, after ascending the sacred stair- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 129 

way, and read this iuscription over the altar, " Non est 
in toto scmctior or be locus. ^^ 

While I was looking at the penitents the custode 
handed me the following note : " Sir ; will you have 
the kindness to bestow some little charity in aid of the 
needy of this church ?" I did not hesitate. It was so 
direct and so politely done. 

Over the grate was the following: " Indulgentise ple- 
naria perpetua." — " Vulneratus est propter iniquitates 
nostras attritus est propter scelera nostra." 

We again took our seats in a fine, open carriage, and, 
after a drive of fifteen minutes, passing through a wil- 
derness of stupendous ruins, and going out of the city 

at the gate, we drove up in front of the villa of 

Albani, which we entered by a ticket previously obtain- 
ed, and in a few moments I was again in ecstacies, as I 
rambled through the paradisaical grounds of this most 
enchanting and lovely villa. 

This villa is more extensive than the Campana villa 
— not quite so beautifully and delicately set as that 
gem, and yet it is far more elaborate, and upon a much 
more grand and magnificent scale. This villa of the 
Albani family, planned by that profound and accom- 
plished antiquary. Cardinal Albani, contains a gallery 
of sculpture next in value to the Vatican and the Cap- 
itol galleries. The buildings containing these apart- 
ments are very extensive, with long, open porticoes in 
front, constructed with recesses and niches in the wall ; 
and scattered along, at difibrent intervals, there are the 
most attractive and exquisite pieces of statuary. En- 
tering the main part of the building, and ascending 
several flights of stairs, all of which are lined with 
paintings and statuary, we are introduced into a regular 
succession of apartments, in which, at every turn of the 



130 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

eye, and at every advance, new and beautiful paintings, 
bas-reliefs, statuary, mosaics, and frescoes, jDresent 
themselves. Some pieces of statuary in these galleries 
have received great praise — especially the beautiful 
A?itinous, crowned ivith lotus flowers. I was delight- 
ed and entranced with a painting of the beheading of 
John the Baptist by (Guahard ?) 

Besides the main building on the north side of the 
villa, there are other buildings with extensive apart- 
ments, and rich in marble statuary. The billiard-room, 
as it is called, and the cafe, are both well supplied with 
choice pieces of statuary. Besides these there are ar- 
cades, with niches, every one of which contains a 
specimen, from the chisel of artists of no mean ability. 
Then out-of-doors, in every direction, gleaming out 
from the dense shrubbery and overhanging trees, and 
beside the sparkling fountains, and along the margin of 
footpaths and upon the more elevated and distant 
points, at the ends of long avenues and embowered 
walks — everywhere the statuary was seen. 

I am now seated, while I write these lines, in a quiet, 
retired spot, on the eastern border of the grounds of 
the villa. Hundreds of birds are sweetly singing 
around me. The perfume of flowers is on the breeze. 
I am alone ; my companions having rambled away to 
another part of the grounds. Great cactuses, with 
broad, leather-like leaves, of immense size, are near 
me ; blooming shrubs and graceful trees shelter me ; 
through the opening vistas I catch glimpses of the 
snowy marble statues in every direction ; the murmur 
of waters, leaping from fountains, and pouring over ar- 
tificial cascades, or laughing along the little streams, is 
in my ear, while as lovely a sky of deep blue, as ever 
gmiled upon the world, bends above me. The atmosphere 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 131 

has a bright, pearly appearance, and every object, even 
at remote distances, stands out in distinct outline. 
But I must away. I hear distant voices. My friends 
are calling me. 

To-night the exhibition of fireworks on the Pincian 
hill surpassed everything I had ever conceived of. 
Tens of thousands of rockets bespangled the night, 
bursting into thousands and thousands of lights of 
different colors, while the firing of cannon and the ex- 
plosion of whole batteries of fireworks gave intense 
excitement to the scene. Among the figures in fire- 
work, was a magnificent representation of the great 
temple of Jerusalem, upon a large scale, which stood 
out in the night like a magical creation of some fairy- 
land. 

March 25. — Most of this day has been devoted to 
churches. Calling first at the Santa Maria delta Vit- 
toria — a fine, small church — nothing particularly re- 
markable about it. Nearly adjoining this church are 
the remains of the baths of Diocletian. These baths 
were of immense extent. The outworks, so far as they 
can now be traced, cover an area of more than a mile in 
circuit. The great hall of these baths has been con- 
verted into a magnificent church, in the form of the 
Greek cross, adorned with some fine paintings and 
sculptures, and called the Santa Maria dig-li Angeli. 
It is really an imposing edifice, and well worth visiting. 
Other portions of the baths have been turned into pub- 
lic granaries, and others still have been converted into 
gardens and convents. A Carthusian monk acts as 
custode to the portion of the baths now occupied by the 
monks of that order as a monastery. He showed us a 
painting on wood, of a monk, with his peculiar attire, 
standing in a door, partly open, with his cat at his feet, 



132 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

a basket of wood, some books, and an hour-glass, around 
him, which was admirably done in its way. 

From Diocletian's baths, which, altogether, form a 
wonderful pile of ruins, we passed on, and out of the 
city, at the gate of San Lorenzo, and after a sweet little 
drive of ten minutes, we came to the old basilica of 
San Lorenzo, which is one of the oldest churches in or 
about Rome. Here we entered the catacombs of Santa 
Cyriaca, in which the body of Saint Lorenzo is supposed 
at first to have been interred. There are many thou- 
sands of old tombs about this church, and a public 
cemetery, with a pit for daily interments, for each day 
in the year. The catacombs are under ground, and 
the bones of the dead are in cells or vaults seen from 
a winding passage, which we did not pursue very far, 
as the exploration of the catacombs is thought to be 
dangerous, and a better chance for this is presented 
at San Sebastian on the Appian Way. Returning from 
San Lorenzo, we visited the recently-excavated tomb of 
the baker, Eurysaces, outside the Porto Maggiore. 
Thence to the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, 
founded by the Empress Helena. There is nothing re- 
markable about it but its antiquity. It is reputed to 
have a piece of the true cross in it. 

From this basilica to the great basilica of St. John 
Lateran. This is old, and splendid in its more recent 
improvements. The main features of the basilica — 
the side aisles — have been obliterated by modern ad- 
ditions. The chapel of the Corsini family in this church 
is superb, and contains in an underground a23artment 
one of the finest pieces of statuary I have seen in any 
of the churches. This church is rich in relics. We 
were shown here, in a little room, carefully protected 
from the vulgar gaze, the table at which was eaten the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 133 

last supper. In the court of the cloisters without the 
church, we were also shown the marble mouth of the 
well at which Christ conversed with the woman of 
Samaria, and divers other precious relics, which the 
guide pointed out to us with great solemnity. 

From the St. John Lateran, to the basilica of Santa 
Maria Mag-g-iore, the third basilica in rank, and one 
of the four which have a Porta Santa. This is also 
rich in gold, paintings, sculpture, and relics. The 
pope officiates here in some of the ceremonies of Holy 
Week and at Christmas. The cradle in which Christ 
was rocked is here, and is shown and carried in pro- 
cession at some of the Christmas festivals. 

From this splendid church we returned to our hotel. 
In the afternoon, as the sun was sinking away in the 
west we took a stroll on the Pincian hill, which is a 
very fashionable promenade, and is indeed a charming 
and delightful place. It is beautifully laid out in gar- 
dens, set with flowers and shrubbery intersected by 
winding walks, and ornamented with statuary, foun- 
tains, and alcoves. From a high stone balustrade on 
the northern side, we had a commanding view of the 
whole country surrounding Rome, the fields, and roads, 
and villas, and distant mountains white with snow. 
From this hill the whole city is seen to great advantage, 
and from no point is there a better view of Saint Pe- 
ter's. I sauntered about through the grounds, while 
glittering carriages and prancing steeds, and elegantly, 
attired ladies and gentlemen were passing, and a fine 
band of music was playing. The Pincian hill of Rome 
is a sort of Champs Elysees where the flower of the city 
may be seen on such an evening as the present. 

March 26. — (^Notes of one day's sight-seeing.') — 
This day has been devoted principally to private pal 



134 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

aces, of which there are said to be about seventy-five in 
Rome. 

First we visited the Palazzo Pontificio (pope's palace). 
The gardens are about a mile in circumference, and are 
very beautiful and interesting. The hedges, with the 
trees, cork, pine, laurel, and ilex, form alcoves and 
bowers impervious to the sun's rays. The shrubbery is 
full twenty feet high, and is shorn into walls as per- 
pendicular and straight as the walls of the palace ; 
far more so, indeed, for there is the absence of pilasters, 
columns, and cornice. The angles are as sharp and 
square as a carpenter's lines and tools could make them. 
There are deep valleys, and dark, hidden grottoes, 
fountains, and jets, in great abundance and variety. 
The greatest novelty of the gardens is an organ, in a 
wild, romantic grotto under the hill, which is played 
by water. As we stood under the shadow of the pro- 
jecting rocks, overgrown with moss, and surrounded 
with evergreens, dripping with the spray from ever- 
playing fountains, the notes of that organ, pealing out 
from the hidden recesses of the grotto, were truly en- 
chanting, and made me feel as though old Pan with his 
reeds, or Orpheus with his harp, had started up from the 
classic haunts of old Rome. On the jagged points of 
two projecting rocks at the mouth of the grotto in which 
the organ is placed there are two mimic boys in statu- 
ary, that were made to blow their trumpets by the same 
water power ; and while the notes of the trumpets were 
still echoing in the rocks, the guide touched a secret 
spring, and more than fifty jets of water, inclined at 
all possible angles, suddenly burst up from the pavement 
at our feet, and sent the bright clear water in rainbow 
circles, all around us, causing no little amusement and 
scampering in our party. These secret jets were in 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 135 

various places in the gardens, and the guide made thera 
play for us as we passed .over them in our rambles along 
the walks. 

Eleven o'clock. — It is a bright and lovely day. . The 
temperature is mild and balmy. I am now seated on 
a rustic, circular bench in the centre of the pope's gar- 
dens, adjoining the palace on Monte Cavallo. An al- 
cove formed of ilex, box, and laurel, so completely sur- 
rounds and overarches me, that I seem to be shut out 
from the world. Various parties are rambling a,bout 
the grounds, and I occasionally hear the sound of their 
voices, but, for the most part, a silence, like that which 
reigns in the primeval forests of our own country, per- 
vades the gardens. Scarcely a leaf is stirred by the 
breeze ; the flowers are breathing their perfume upon 
the quiet air ; the birds sing merrily in the trees, while 
the drowsy murmur of the fountains whose waters are 
falling into marble basins, or gliding over shelving- 
rocks into the moss-lined pools, is in my ear. This is a 
place for meditation. Here one, in the heart of a 
great city, can be alone. The high walls and dense 
groves and hedges deaden, and cut off the sounds from 
the streets, and amid the sombre shades of these cool 
and sequestered walks and bowers, one may be as per- 
fectly alone, as if he were in a lodge in some vast 
wilderness. 

The palace itself contains some fine paintings and 
statuary. Here the popes are elected ; the cardinals 
being shut up in a room by themselves, and cut off from 
all correspondence or communication with any persons 
but themselves, and confined to a poor diet until they 
make an election, and the new pope is proclaimed from 
the balcony of this palace. 

From the pope's palace we next visited the Rospigli- 



136 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

osi palace. Here we found some fine paintings ; but the 
great attraction is a fresco, by Guido, called Aui'ora. 
It is beautiful. The figures are fine, and some of the 
faces -lovely. Aurora is represented as flying in ad- 
vance of the chariot of the sun, scattering flowers, 
while seven female figures representing the hours attend 
the chariot, hand in hand, and form a magnificent group. 
There are other paintings here of considerable preten 
sions, among them an Adam and Eve by Domenichino. 

During the French invasion in 1849 this palace suffer- 
ed from cannon-balls and bombs which penetrated the 
walls, and broke through the roof, and greatly injured 
the galleries. One cannon-ball is still preserved in 
the gallery of paintings which did much damage to the 
wall and roof. 

From the Rospigliosi, we next went to the Barberini 
palace. This has a fine collection of paintings and 
an extensive library. Among the portraits, that of 
Beatrice Cenci, whose history is full of melancholy in- 
terest, is the most attractive. This painting by com- 
petent judges, is pronounced one of the best, if not the 
best, in the world. I was delighted with it, though no 
connoisseur in the art. 

It is delightful to visit these private palaces, so rich 
in choice paintings and statuary ; and I can not speak 
in terms too high, of the liberality of these noble 
families, who allow free access to these valuable collec- 
tions. The stranger in Rome may enjoy the paintings, 
statuary, etc., etc., which these princes have collected 
at great expense, as freely and fully as the owners of 
the palaces themselves. 

Returning from this morning's round among the 
palaces, we stopped at the studios of several eminent 
artists in sculpture and painting. In these, I was quite 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 137 

as mucli interested as in the galleries of the palaces. 
I saw some elegant pieces of statuary at a studio near 
the Barberini palace. The name of the artist I did not 
learn. And at the studio of Mr. Rogers, an American, 
from the state of New York, who has now been in 
Rome seven years , and who has gained very consider- 
able reputation, I also saw some fine specimens ; I will 
mention " Ruth gleaning," ^'The Truant School-Boy, 
skating," " Nydia," the blind flower-girl of Bulwer's 
Last Days of Pompeii, and an Indian group, represent- 
ing an Indian pulling a splinter out of the foot of a 
handsome squaw. During the afternoon I visited a 
number of mosaic manufactories, where I saw the op- 
eration of making mosaics. 

A great many persons in Rome are engaged in the 
manufacture of mosaics and cameos. Stone-cameos are 
very expensive. Shell-cameos not so high. Mosaics 
are vastly different in their workmanship, in different 
establishments. But a stranger must be cautious not 
to buy too soon, or he is likely to be deceived. The 
Italians will get all they can for their work. 



138 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER VIIT. 

ROME. 

Borghese Palace. — Galleries of Paintings. — Studios of Artists. — - 
Mechanical Part of Sculpture. — Mosaic and Cameo Manufactures. — 
Visit to the Catacombs. — Priests at their Devotions. — Return to 
the City. — Churches. — Protestant Buiying-Ground. — St. Paul's 
beyond the Tiber. — Music. — Baths of Caracalla. — Tomb of the 
Scipios. — Domine quo vadis. — Columbaria. — Sciarri Palace- — 
Colonna Palace. — Gardens. — Pontifical Palace. — Borghese Villa. 
— Ladies. 

Rome, March 27. — This morning I spent three or 
four hours in the Borghese palace, examining the gal- 
leries of paintings which are far superior to any private 
galleries in Rome, that I have yet seen. The Vatican 
galleries are, of course, more extensive ; but there are 
more than seven hundred paintings in the Borghese 
galleries, and many of them are of great merit. There 
is a considerable number of paintings here by Raphael, 
and some by Titian. Raphael's Entomhment of Christ, 
is perhaps, the picture which excites most admiration 
— painted by this great master when he was but twenty- 
four years old. There is also a number of Venuses 
and other rather lascivious paintings, which renders it a 
little embarrassing — till one gets used to it — to ex- 
amine in the presence of ladies ; and yet ladies and 
gentlemen visit these galleries and all others in the 
city of Rome, in company, and seem to think no 
more of gazing on these pictures, some of which ought 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 139 

to put modesty to the blush, than if they were so much 
canvass, untouched by the magic creations of the ar- 
tist's pencil. There are some paintings in the Borghese 
galleries that are enough to quicken the pulse of a stoic 
— I shall long remember the hours spent in this palace, 
and never cease to be grateful for the liberality of the 
princely proprietors which allowed me to enjoy the 
treat of feasting my eyes upon the splendid productions 
which are collected in such profusion and variety in 
these halls. 

Leaving the palace I spent several hours in the 
studios of the best artists in Rome, both in painting 
and sculpture. These artists are a most polite and 
obliging set of men. They will lay down the brush, 
and the chisel at any time to show visiters through 
their extensive apartments, crowded with the produc- 
tions of their hands. They seem to take pleasure in 
showing their specimens. Every fine piece of statuary 
is turned round on a pedestal, that the beholder may 
see it to the best advantage, and the paintings placed in 
the best light for effect. 

In these large sculpture establishments the artists 
proper, who model, plan, and create, do but little of 
the work with their own hands — except in finishing 
off, they rarely do anything with the chisel. This is 
done by mechanics, who serve their time at the business, 
and who perform their work by pattern and measure- 
ment, just as a cabinet workman, or a carpenter, exe- 
cutes his work. On approaching one of these large and 
extensive studios to-day about two o'clock, I found all 
the workmen out of doors, in an alley, resting and 
smoking, like the operatives in any other manufacturing 
establishment. On entering the shops, under the guid- 
ance of two of the men, who very obligingly offered 



140 EAi^DOM SKETCHES AND 

their services — one to explain the pieces, and the other 
to turn them round, I found the mallets and chisels 
lying on the pediments of the pieces under the hands 
of the operatives, and before I had completed the tour 
of the various apartments, I found that most of the 
men had gone to work, and the marble chips were fly- 
ing from the jagged masses of Carrara marble, as the 
rude blocks took from under the skilful hands of the 
workmen and developed themselves in the most beau- 
tiful and captivating pieces of statuary. I saw pieces 
in every stage of progress, form the rudest state up to 
the point of receiving the last finishing touch of tho 
chisel. These studios interested me quite as mucli a& 
the galleries. There are said to be some five or six 
hundred studios in Rome, and a great many of them arc- 
very large and extensive establishments. In most that 1 
visited, I found pieces preparing for America, in the 
form of monuments, busts, garden statuary, etc. I also 
visited other mosaic and cameo manufactories. The 
mosaics are made, first, by preparing a composition of 
the same substance as glass, of the color desired, as 
the groundwork, and then inserting another com- 
position that resembles slate stone, of different colors, 
in this groundwork, making the figures desired, and then 
polishing it off. Females do a great deal of this 
work. 

At about five o'clock, this evening, we took a drive 
down the Appian Way, as far as the tomb of Cecilia 
Metella, which occupies a conspicuous position, on a high 
hill, about three miles south of the city-walls. We had 
an open carriage, with fleet horses. Our courier was 
mounted on the seat with the driver. We passed from 
our hotel through the crooked and narrow streets, run- 
ning along by the column and forum of Trajan — under 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 141 

the shadow of the Capitol — by the old Roman Forum — 
under the arch of Titus — by the ruins of the Temple 
of Peace — near the Coliseum — mider the Arch of Con- 
stantino — near the awe-inspiring ruins of the Baths of 
Caracalla — down the Appian Way, through the Porta 
San Sebastiano, and "on — surrounded by ruins and old 
monumental piles, carrying the mind back through many 
long centuries — and yet on, till we stopped before the 
church of Saint Sebastian. On entering the church we 
found two monks upon their knees in their evening de- 
motions, one of whom our courier approached without 
ceremony or apology for the interruption, and told him 
^e wished to go into the catacombs, the entrance to 
which was under the church. He immediately arose, 
and started for the keys. One of our party said, " Su- 
derie, you ought not to have disturbed that monk in his 
prayers." " Pshaw !" he replied, " he loves money bet- 
ter than he does his prayers.''^ — By the way these Ro- 
man Catholics, while they seem to be tenacious about 
observing all the outward forms of religion, are utterly 
devoid, for the most part, of the least real devotion. 
They look about while they are praying, and seem to 
think the whole of worship consists in that which is 
outward. But our monk returned with wax-candles, 
in a coil, for each of us, and soon the massive iron door 
was opened, and we commenced our subterraneous jour- 
ney, amid the tombs of a forgotten generation. The 
conductor asked whether we would take the lono; or the 
short route. We told him to take us the long route. — 
Our course was a zigzag one. The passage was nar- 
row, and sometimes too low for us to stand erect. The 
sides of the passage were excavated for the tombs of 
the long-forgotten inmates of this silent city of the dead. 
Everv now and then we would turn aside from the main 



142 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

way into what are called the chapels. What the object 
of the chapels was, has long been a matter of curious 
and learned inquiry. It was a sight to see us, in single 
file, each with a candle in his hand, thrusting it first on 
the right, th'On on the left, into this vault, and then into 
that, prying into every hole, crevice, and corner, and 
yet hastening on to prevent our guide's getting too far 
ahead. The feeble light of our taper wax-candles, 
seemed to struggle with the gloom of these underground 
apartments ; and our footsteps, as we descended marble 
stairways, deeper and deeper still, seemed to waken up 
the sleeping dead, who sent back, in the reverberating 
echoes of the sepulchral halls, a remonstrance against 
our intrusion upon their slumbers. We scrambled in 
the dark to find some fragments of marble to preserve 
as mementoes of this journey along the quiet, silent 
gloomy streets of this ancient Necropolis. We per- 
formed the long tour, and ascended into the church on 
the side opposite to that from which we descended to 
the catacombs. The twilight was gathering, and the 
church was quiet and solemn. A few candles were dim- 
ly burning upon the altar, while an old monk or priest 
was gliding about the aisles of the church in his black 
gown and hood, like a ghost, or a phantom. We were 
soon at our carriage, and in a few moments were clam- 
bering about the ruins of the tomb of Cecilia Metella, 
which stands in close proximity to the ruins of the Cir- 
cus of Romulus, which is in a fine state of preservation. 
The sun had gone down over the campagna, and the 
shadows were settling like a misty veil upon the plains, 
and upon the distant mountains, as we commenced re- 
tracing our course to the city. 

March 28. — QNotes of another' day in Rome.} — I 
have attempted too much to day. Six hours were given 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 143 

to sight-seeing. — First to the remains of the Temple of 
Fortuna Virilis, which stands near the Temple of Yesta 
in a pretty good state of preservation. Got a boy, amid 
the filth that surrounds these ruins to break me off a 
piece of a column of the Temple of Fortuno. — Next to 
the church Santa Maria in Cosmedina. The pavement 
is of opus Alexandrinum — a marble mask is. here which 
has a curious history. The Theatre of Marcellus next ; 
then the Portico of Octavius — the island in the river 
Tiber — and by the miserable Jews' quarter. Then to 
the Protestant burying-ground. It is a quiet, beautiful 
place. It contains the graves, principally, of English 
and Americans. — I visited the grave of Percy Bysshe 
Shelley, the poet, and gathered some flowers from his 
grave. — Also the grave of John Keats, the young poet, 
whose brief history is so full of painful interest. Next 
we drove to the splendid new Basilica now building on 
the ruins of the great Saint Paul's, outside of Rome, 
which was destroyed by fire in 1824. The new build- 
ing is one of the most magnificent churches in the world. 
It is said to be built on the grave of Saint Paul. The lo- 
cation is most unfavorable, and the wonder is that it ever 
should have occurred to any one of building a house of 
such immense proportions, outside of the city, and in 
so unhealthy a place. The cost, when completed, can 
scarcely be less than from thirty to forty millions of 
dollars, perhaps much more. The house is four hundred 
feet long, and two hundred and seventy-nine feet wide. 
It has a nave with two side-aisles on each side of the 
nave ; the first separated from the nave by two rows of 
granite pillars, each pillar made of one solid piece, and 
twenty in each row ; the second or outside aisle is separa- 
ted from the first by the same number of columns, made 
of the same niatet-ial ; forty altogether, presenting a sub- 



144 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

lime spectacle. The four alabaster columns supporting 
the baldacchina, or canopy over the high altar, are all 
of one piece each, and were presented by the pacha 
of Egypt. There are mosaic likenesses of all the popes, 
two hundred and fifty-eight in number, running round 
the entire building. The gilding of the ceiling is su- 
perb. The floors are marble of different colors. Ele- 
gant paintings are in the rear of the altars of the dif- 
ferent chapels, and everything is upon the most splendid 
scale, and executed in the finest style. 

Wandering about this gorgeous and expensive tem- 
ple, which appeared like a sublime, magical creation in 
a wilderness, where hundreds of persons were busily 
employed in polishing the marble floors, fashioning cap- 
itals, entablatures, and friezes, after exquisite models, 
filling the whole house with the din of an extensive 
manufacturing establishment — suddenly we were ar- 
rested by strains of music that came stealing out from 
a little chapel adjoining the tribune in the rear of the 
high altar. We drew near to the door, and after a 
short parley with a priest or monk, were admitted with- 
in the portal of this sweet little apartment, where there 
was an altar, wax-candles, a fine painting, an organ, 
and about twenty persons, men and boys, who were 
practising a sublime piece of music. Oh ! it was de- 
lightful ! Away off here from the city, on the banks of 
the Tiber, in the midst of a malarious district, and with 
but few habitations near us — in a glorious temple, 
scarcely inferior to the temple at Jerusalem, in the days 
of Christ on earth — away from the noisy thoroughfares 
of the city — to hear strains of music that seemed like 
Btray notes wandering down from the upper temple, and 
detained for a while in this beautiful little chapel. It 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 145 

was hard to leave the spot. There was a charm and an 
enchantment about it. 

From Saint Paul's (San Paolo fuori le mura') we 
next visited the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. These 
are the most extensive ruins in Rome with the exception 
of the Coliseum. It is impossible to give any one a 
correct idea of them from a mere description in words. 
They are more than a mile in circuit. Recent excava- 
tions have laid bare the floors of the cellars, and lower 
apartments, which are found to be mosaics in a fine 
state of preservation, showing the colors and figures 
as distinctly as they now appear in any of the palaces 
of modern construction. There are lofty arches, span- 
ning vast spaces, and mighty walls, separating what 
were the baths, dressing-rooms, and other apartments, 
from each other. We ascended by steps to the second 
floor, supported by arches, and wandered about among 
the rank weeds, shrubs, grass, and flowers, which grow 
in rank profusion and abundance upon these ruins, at a 
height of fifty or sixty feet above the main floor. Some 
of our party cut large walking-sticks growing out of 
the crevices of the walls and arches. There was some- 
thing wild and romantic, in climbing amid these ancient 
piles, calling to each other from distant mounds and 
crumbling walls, following beaten paths across the arch- 
es, and whistling and singing the while, as if we were in 
an unfrequented mountain fastness, in our country, in 
pursuit of flowers and minerals for a cabinet of curi- 
osities. 

We next visited the tomb of the Scipios. Here we 
descended, with lighted wax-candles, as at the cata- 
combs of Saint Sebastian, from which the tomb of the 
Scipios is not far distant. Indeed, this tomb is a sort 
of catacomb of itself, with a number of vaults, or cells, 

7 



146 KAI^DOM SKETCHES AND 

and chapels. The marble slabs, marking the tombs of 
several members of this family, were all pointed out. 
The sarcophagi and busts have been removed to the 
Vatican. Our courier quarrelled a while with the 
custode about the price of some little marble mementoes, 
and about his fees, and then we passed over the hill, 
through vineyards, patches of artichokes, etc., till we 
came to the Columbaria of Cneius Pomponius Hylas 
and Pomponia Yitalina, situated in the same vineyard 
which contains the tomb of the Scipios. The interments 
here were in the time of Augustus and Tiberius. 

Next, to the Columbarium of the slaves of Augustus ; 
next, to another recently excavated. We then drove to 
the little church on the Appian Way, called, " Dotnine 
quo vadis,''^ where a church tradition says Saint Peter 
met Christ, aud inquired " Domine quo vadis ?" (Lord 
where goest thou?) to which Christ replied, "Verrio 
Romam interum crucifigi" (I go to Rome to be crucified). 
We were shown the footprints of Christ in a slab of 
marble carefully preserved in this church, under an iron 
railing or grate. Broad, flat footprints, evidently the 
work of an unskilful hand. Miracles in the way of 
cures have been wrought here : crutches hanging on the 
walls, with the dirks and other deadly weapons of con- 
verted assassins, attest the curative and converting 
power of these footprints. 

March 29. — This morning we visited first the Sciarri 
palace, where we found a good collection of paintings, 
some of which are reputed to be very fine. A portrait 
by Raphael, called II Suanatore,is spoken of in exalted 
terms by critics. To my uncultivated taste, in the fine 
arts, I frequently see copies of these fine pieces from 
the old masters, that are quite as agreeable to me as 
the originals. Here too we saw one of the many 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 14T 

repetitions of Caravaggio's Cheating Gamesters. This 
I have met with in several galleries. A lady was just 
finishing a copy of this painting which was a clever 
thing. 

We often meet with artists in these private galleries as 
well as in the public ones, copying line paintings selected 
according to their respective tastes. At the Borghese 
palace, the other day, I observed that some of the apart- 
ments were nearly filled with the easels and stools and 
paints of the artists who were engaged in copying 
paintings which have gained celebrity in the world of 
art. The Sciarri palace has not as large a collection 
of paintings as the Barberini, the Borghese, or the 
Colonna palace, to which we next went. The Colonna 
palace is at the foot of the Quirinal hill on the west, 
and is a very large building. The galleries of both 
painting and sculpture are very extensive, and embrace 
a very considerable variety of pieces in both apart- 
ments of art, many of which are very fine. But I was 
quite as much interested in the gardens of this palace, 
as in the galleries. They occupy a large space on the 
western slope and summit of the Quirinal hill, rising 
by terraces and parapets from the foot of the hill to 
the summit. They embrace also a part of the Baths of 
Constantino, which are in a good state of preservation, 
and the gardens are so arranged in reference to them, 
as to make them add to their interest and augment 
their variety. In these grounds we found the box, ilex, 
laurel, and other trees and shrubs, lining and overhang- 
ing the walks ; so that here, as in the pope's gardens, 
which are but a few rods distant from the upper part, 
we were as perfectly secluded, in the very heart of th^ 
city, as if we had been in the wild woods of our own 
country. I was exceedingly interested in a long row 



148 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of houses, made of straw, extending for one or two 
hundred yards, on the north side of the gardens, on 
the top of the hill, which were filled with luxuriant and 
heavily-laden lemon-trees. The trees were trained 
against trellis-work, and the branches entwined, ex- 
tending over an arch of ten feet span, beneath which 
we walked, the golden lemons, as large as a man's fist, 
hanging around in the most abundant profusion. Many 
of them were perfectly ripe, and the odor filled the 
place. There were hundreds of bushels of them on the 
trees, and large quantities were entirely matured. We 
slipped a paul into the hands of our conductor, who 
allowed us to fill our pockets, and at dinner we enjoyed 
the most delicious lemonade from these newly-plucked 
lemons. From the gardens of the Colonna we passed 
over again to the Pontifical palace, where we remained 
for a while, and then drove out of the city at the gate. 
Porta Salaria, and made our way to the Borghese Villa, 
which is one of the most attractive places in the imme- 
diate vicinity of Rome. It lies northeast of the city, 
and runs up close to the city walls. 

The Pincian hill commands a fine view of this villa. 
Before the French invasion in 1849, it was one of the 
most perfect and lovely villas in the whole world. 
The French cut down a great many of the groves, and 
otherwise greatly impaired the beauty of the extensive 
grounds which are more than three miles in circuit. 
This villa is laid out on a magnificent and splendid 
scale. In rambling over the grounds, one is delighted 
constantly by something new and attractive. Here 
there is a fountain, throwing its bright waters, broken 
into diamond spray, and pattering on the marble basin 
and statuary around it ; there a lovely lake that spreads 
out its bosom to the keel of pleasure-boats, and invites 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 149 

to excursions across to the otlier shore ; yonder a 
quiet pathway that winds around the hill, and away 
down into a sombre, dreamy valley, scarcely ever vis- 
ited by the sunbeams, w^hile in another direction the 
white walls of the casino or a group of marble statuary 
gleams out amid the dark foliage of the evergreen 
trees that crown the hill-tops. There is no spot in 
these large and spacious grounds where one is out of 
the sound of a fountain or a cascade. 

But the galleries of the casino are the great objects 
of attraction at this villa. The building is upon a large 
and imposing scale, and admirably arranged in reference 
to its galleries. The ground floor has some eight or 
ten large apartments filled with the finest paintings and 
sculpture. There are here some of the very finest land- 
scapes I ever saw. The upper story has also about the 
same number of apartments, which are also filled with 
choice productions of the brush and the chisel. 

This villa is a place of great resort for the visiters 
at Rome. In walking over the grounds I met with some 
of the most splendidly-dressed ladies I have seen since 
I have been in the city. Formerly the carriages of 
visiters were admitted into the grounds, but of late 
years, for some cause, this is prohibited ; and now, all 
classes of visiters are put on the same fooling; all have 
to walk. This puts the ladies on foot, and everybody 
has an opportunity here of seeing the most fashionable 
portion of the visiters at Rome in the open air, and with- 
out any concealment from carriage enclosures. My 
visit to the Borghese villa will long be remembered with 
pleasure. The principal palace of the Borghese family 
is in the city, the galleries of which I visited on a pre- 
vious day. 



160 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER IX. 

ROME. 

Protestant Religious Service. — Mr. Cass. — Vespers at Saint Peter's. 

— Peace Treaty at Paris, — How received in Rome. — A Day's Work 
in Rome. — San Pietro in Vincoli. — Baths of Titus. — Coliseum. 
Palace of the Caesars. — Views and Incidents. — Marmetine Prisons. 

— Traditions in Relation to Peter and Paul. — Tarpeian Rock. — 
The Vatican. — Stroll upon the Pincian Hill at Sunset. 

EoME, March 30. — I have just returned from a 
pleasant and refreshing religious service, which I at- 
tended this morning in the chapel fitted up by our 
minister, Mr. Cass, for Protestant worship. This 
chapel is designed especially for the use of Americans. 
Mr. Cass is, himself, a Presbyterian, at least in his pre- 
dilections ; and at his own private expense he has fur- 
nished and fitted up an apartment, adjoining those 
occupied by himself and family, in a large palace, which 
stands in the very heart of the city, for a mode of wor- 
ship suited to his religious preferences, and for the 
benefit of his countrymen sojourning in Rome. A 
short time after this chapel was opened for divine ser- 
vice, a correspondence was opened with Mr. Cass, on 
the part of the government, in relation to the Protes- 
tant services conducted in his chapel, in which there 
was an intimation that measures would be taken to sup- 
press it ; but Mr. Cass cut the correspondence short 
by writing, in reply, that if all such purpose was not 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 151 

abandonedj and he left entirely at liberty to exercise 
his own pleasure in relation to the subject in question, 
he would demand his passports in six hours. Since 
this time Protestant services have been conducted here 
without molestation or interference on the part of the 
government. 

There is no church organization in this chapel, and 
the expense of keeping up the services here is defrayed 
by the voluntary contributions of American visiters at 
Rome — principally Presbyterians, Congregationalists, 
and Dutch Reformed. The Rev. Dr. M'Clure, of the 
Dutch Reformed Church, has been officiating here dur- 
ing the winter. At present he is absent on a short 
visit to Naples. This morning the Rev. Mr. Marks, of 
the state of Illinois, officiated. He is temporarily in 
the city, and will preach here for two or three sabbaths. 
He is a Presbyterian minister. He kindly invited, and 
even urged me to preach this afternoon, but I declined. 
Since returning to my room I regret that I did not ac- 
cept the invitation. I feel as though it would be a 
pleasure to me to preach in Rome, where Saint Paul 
preached, and toiled, and was beheaded. There was a 
congregation of about one hundred persons, all of whom 
joined in the services. Most of them, I presume, were 
Americans. There is, just outside the gate (Porto del 
Popolo), an English chapel, at which the Episcopal ser- 
vice is regularly conducted. 

Seven o'clock^ same day. — The last few hours have 
been spent in Saint Peter's, where I have been to hear 
vespers sung. I can scarcely think of anything more 
perfectly charming than vespers in this greatest of all 
religious temples on earth, sung by a choir so full, with 
such an admirable variety of voices, and so well train- 
ed, on just such an evening as this has been. The day 



152 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

lias been cloudless, and the deep unfathomable vault of 
matchless blue has never bent over Italy more beauti- 
fully than to-day. The atmosphere was perfectly clear, 
the light, pearly, and a strange silvery transparency 
seemed spread out like a veil of filagree-work upon 
the distant hills and mountains. As I entered the 
cliurch my ears were saluted with strains of music as 
sweet as the stray notes from angelic choirs. They 
came stealing out from the chapel usually occupied 
for the daily services on the south aisle ; and yet they 
rose up like a breathing, vocal incense, filling the 
whole house, lingering in the arches and crannies of 
the upper ceiling like imprisoned, expiring swan notes in 
some hidden grotto — Oh! there was a soul-subduing 
sweetness in those sounds, that entranced and spell- 
bound the heart. Then there was something in the 
hour — the close of a lovely day, when the horizontal 
bars of golden sunlight came through the upper win- 
dows of the lofty dome, lighting up the gilding, and diffu- 
sing a mellow, heavenly hue over the great frescoes that 
ornament the interior of the dome, and bringing them out 
as they are not seen at any other hour ; w^hile the lower 
portions of the immense church were shrouded in a sort 
of twilight, and the lamps glimmered in the chapels and 
around the altars, all giving interest and efiect to the 
vesper hymns. I forgot all the paraphernalia and non- 
sense of the service connected with Catholic worship, 
and gave myself up to the controlling influences of the 
hour ; and I must confess that there was a pleasant 
and delightful impression made upon my heart. I was 
sorry when the vespers closed, and the white-robed 
priests and the long line of singers came out of the 
chapel in procession, and marched off to another part 
of the church, losing themselves among the pillars and 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 153 

columns and altars that form so conspicuous a part in 
the main body of Saint Peter's. The congregation 
rapidly dispersed, and in a few moments, only here and 
there a solitary person could be seen gliding noiselessly 
along upon the marble pavement, who, like myself, 
seemed reluctant to quit the place of the vesper hymns, 
which heard once, linger like a sweet dream in the halls 
of memory. 

A telegraphic dispatch was received in the city this 
afternoon, conveying the intelligence that a final treaty 
of peace had been signed at Paris, by the belligerent 
parties in the protracted European war. The terms 
of the compact or treaty have not been made known, 
the simple fact announced. This intelligence was re- 
ceived here with demonstrations of joy, and one hun- 
dred and one cannons were fired from the castle of Saint 
Angelo on the occasion. It seems that Rome is ready 
to rejoice over everything of interest that occurs in 
Paris in any way related to the government. The 
princess had a baby the other day, and this intelligence 
too was received with one hundred and one cannons 
from Saint Angelo. 

EoME, March 31. — Another hard day's work and now 
I am too much fatigued to write up in detail. Our party 
started out at nine o'clock this morning, passed the 
temple of Pallas Minerva, an interesting ruin. Thence 
to the church, San Martino di Monti, from which there is 
a passage into the catacombs of Saint Sebastian, and in 
which there are some good paintings ; thence to the 
celebrated church, San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter 
in chains), in which it is said the chain with which Saint 
Peter was bound is preserved. This chain is now kept 
as a precious relic, and is only exhibited once a year. 
Michael Angelo's Moses is in this church, thought by 



154 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

some to be the masterpiece of this great artist. From 
Saint Peter in chains we went to the Baths of Titus. 
Here we found a stupendous ruin, but not so extensive 
as the Baths of Caracalla. The work of excavation 
has been carried on until a great many apartments have 
been cleared. The frescos, arabesques, and other paint- 
ings on the walls and ceilings, are as bright as if the 
painter had just left his work. These Baths were built 
on the ruins of the Golden House of Nero. 

Next to the Coliseum once more. Some of our party 
again ascended the walls to the height of fifty or sixty 
feet, and cut walking sticks, growing out of the ruins. 
Here we find the most stupendous ruins in the world. 
I have visited this place often, and each successive visit 
has increased my wonder and admiration. 

I took a stroll round the ruins of the temple of 
Yenus and Rome, and along the Via Sacra, then down 
to the Arch of Constantine, where I joined my party, 
and hastened to the ruins of the palace of the Caesars. 
These are wonderful, being more than a mile and a half 
in circuit. They can not fail to excite the wonder and 
surprise of every visiter. From the highest point of 
the Palatine hill, amid the remains of the palace of 
the Caesars, there is one of the finest views presented 
that can be obtained from any part of the city. The whole 
campagna, with the circumjacent mountains, is spread 
out, in full view, across which, the Appian Way, the 
road to Naples by Albano, and other roads, can be 
distinctly traced for many miles. This point also af- 
fords a most commanding view of the Coliseum, and 
other ruins that lie around the Palatine hill. There is 
a perfect wilderness of shrubs and stunted trees over- 
growing this hill, and concealing the surface of the 
ground, among which paths wind in various directions, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 155 

and above wliich tlie old walls, arches, and towers, rise 
in gloomy grandeur, mournfully telling the sad story 
that the glory of the world passes away. Our party 
got separated and lost from each other, and we set up 
a hallooing that waked up the echoes in the old palace 
halls, enough to startle the slumbering ghosts of the 
long-departed inmates. Our courier, Suderie, who by 
the way we call, indiscriminately, " Studio," " Scudio," 
and " Suderie," remained behind, near the entrance to 
the palace-grounds, and as we wanted him to show us 
the entrance to the Farnese gardens, adjoining the 
palace ruins, we set up a hallooing for Suderie. " O 
Studio I^^ rang out from one, '' O Scuderie!^^ from 
another, and " O Suderie!^'' from another, nearly loud 
enough to have been heard to the Sabine hills, and 
Pontine Marshes. We cut walking-sticks and gathered 
some flowers, and left for other objects of curiosity. 

We then passed down to the old Roman Forum, and 
stopped just below the Capitol, to visit the old Mamer- 
tine prisons of high antiquity. Gloomy enough. Here, 
church tradition says. Saint Peter and Saint Paul were 
imprisoned. The story is told by the custode as though 
he believed it, that forty-seven prisoners were converted 
in a cell of this prison by the apostles, and that a mir- 
acle was wrought, in opening a fountain, which supplied 
water for the baptism of these converts. Whether by 
miracle or otherwise, it is certain that there is a foun- 
tain or spring here in the prison, for I drank some of 
the water myself. There is also shown here the im- 
print of Saint Peter's face on a rock, where it is said 
an officer slapped his head against the wall, and mi 
raculously left the print of his face. This is protected 
by an iron grating, and is pointed out with great rever- 
ence by the guide to visiters. There is also shown a 



156 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

subterranean passage by which the apostles escaped 
from the prison. But I am tired of this nonsense. 
There is better proof that old Jugurtha was imprisoned 
here, and starved to death in this very cell. Here the 
accomplices of Catiline were strangled by order of 
Cicero, and here Sejanus, the minister of Tiberius, was 
executed. 

From the Mamertine prisons to the Tarpeian Rock, 
which now is nearly concealed oy the accumulated 
rubbish of many centuries. Little did I think, when a 
boy, in reading the history of Rome, and the story of 
the cackling of geese waking the sentinel on the Tarpeian 
Rock just in time to save the citadel, that I shcwild 
ever stand on this spot. Gardens, filled with fruit-trees, 
and flowers, artichokes, and cauliflowers, now cover the 
hill above the only part of the Tarpeian Rock that is 
still visible. I hung over it, from a rock wall, and 
gazed upon it with a sort of awe and reverence, as the 
memories of other years came over me. Rome, as it 
was pictured to my youthful mind, rose, as by enchant- 
ment, to my gaze : Romulus and Remus in their early 
struggles started up to my vision. The old Romans 
trooped before me. Then came the glory and splendor 
of the great metropolis of the world in the days of her 
greatest strength and extent of empire. How changed 
the picture now ! How little of what Rome was remains ! 
Her foundations are covered, and her proud triumphal 
arches, columns, and palaces, overgrown and buried. 

From the Tarpeian Rock, again to the Vatican, 
Avhere we spent three hours in the galleries of painting 
aiid statuary. Thousands and thousands of pieces of 
sculpture are assembled and distributed here in these 
vast halls. This is the most splendid and extensive 
collection of statuary in the world. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 157 

The Yatican covers enough of space for a considera- 
ble city. After walking for hours, in many hundreds 
of halls and apartments, glancing at the numerous pieces 
of statuary, one leaves, with scarcely any distinct rec- 
ollection of what he has seen. The Laocoon and 
Apollo Belvidere will not be forgotten, and a few other 
j,)ieces will be remembered with distinctness, but the 
great mass will be only remembered as a wild dream, 
in which a thousand scenes have mingled, becoming so 
blended that no one separate and detached thing can 
be recalled. The paintings by T^aphael, and the fres- 
coes of some of the halls by this master, will also make 
a distinct impression upon the mind. Hillard, Prime, 
and J. R. Thompson, Esq., late tourists, have described 
the contents of the Vatican galleries somewhat in detail, 
and with criticisms that are deserving of high considera- 
tion. 

At sunset I strolled again on the Pincian hill, and 
in the gardens back of the French Academy. Nothing 
can be more picturesque than the view at sunset from 
the Pincian hill. The grounds are laid off like a gar- 
den, richly set with box, and studded with laurel, and 
other evergreens, interspersed with statuary, and foun- 
tains, the play of whose waters lulls the mind to sober, 
pleasant, dreamy thoughts. This evening the sun went 
down without a cloud. A rich golden light lingered in 
his track, and spread vermillion and sapphire over the 
western sky. The blue summits of the distant moun- 
tains on the north peeped above the intervening hills, 
and stood out against the heavens, cutting a well-defin- 
ed profile of every peak and jagged rock ; while in the 
east and southward, beyond the ornamental trees of the 
nearer villas, the long ranges of mountains swept around 
the campagna and sunk away upon the plains. Below 



158 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the point of vision, lay tlie city of Rome, with its domes, 
and steeples, and ancient temples, and beyond the Tiber, 
on the western border, rose in sublime majesty the dome 
of Saint Peter's. The church-bells were ringing, the | 
din of the city rose to the ear like the murmur of the 
sea, while an unbroken stillness reigned in the grounds 
on the Pincian, and in the gardens of the Academy. I 
lingered long in the walks of the garden, overarched 
with the branches of luxuriant trees, catching now and 
then a glimpse of the burnished sky, where the sun had 
gone down, and pausing, as I rambled, to listen to the 
music of the fountains, singing their vesper hymns, and 
throwing their crystal jets into the quiet air. Not a 
human being was in sight except a couple of my young 
friends, who stole along through the grounds, in a 
thoughtful mood — thinking, it may be, of home and 
loved ones far away. The twilight was fast fading from 
the heavens, and darkness gathering over the hill, and 
settling down upon the city, as we returned again to 
the street, and descended the steps to the Piazzo di 
Espagna, and found our way to the hotel. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 159 



CHAPTER X. 

EXCURSION TO TIVOLI. 

Delightful Drh'e. — Things by the Way. — Hadrian's Villa. — Tivoli. 
— Cascades. — Sights about Town. — Return to Rome. — A Pretty 
Girl on the Mountains. — Hail Columbia. — Preparations to leave 
Rome. — Brief Review. — The Music of the Fountain. 

April 1, 1856. — To-day we made an excursion to 
Tivoli, eighteen miles directly east of Rome. The road 
is fine ; the day was lovely ; the atmosphere clear and 
bracing, and everything conspired to make the excur- 
sion delightful. We had a comfortable open carriage 
and a pair of fleet horses, and we went at the rate of 
eight miles an hour. We left the city by the Porta San 
Lorenzo, and took the old via Tiburtina, passing the 
ancient basilica, San Lorenzo, on the right — crossed 
the Anio on the Ponte Mammote, and swept on toward 
Tivoli at a rapid rate. 

On the way we passed near the lake of Tartarus, so 
called from its sulphurous properties. The peculiar 
chemical qualities of the waters of this lake produce, in 
almost inexhaustible quantities, the stone called traver- 
tine, " by depositing a calcareous coating on vegetables 
and other substances." Not more than a mile from 
the road there is another lake of the same nature, called 
La Solfatara^ which is drained by a canal, nine feet 
broad, four feet deep, and two miles long, which carries 
the stagnant waters of the lake across the road, and 
empties them into the Anio. These waters are highly 



160 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

impregnated with sulpliuretted hydrogen gas, the smell 
of which attracts the attention of the traveller some 
time before he reaches the canal. The water is of a 
milky color, and in the days of Strabo was much used 
for medical purposes. These lakes furnish strong evi- 
dence that this volcanic region is in a state of unrest ; 
and there are reasonable apprehensions indulged that 
some day a lava tide may burst up from the subterrane- 
ous fires that are pent up below, and deluge the plain 
for many miles around. From the borders of these 
lakes the villa of Hadrian may be seen on the right, 
marked by the tall Lombardy-poplar-like cedars and 
lofty pines that still stand out like old monarchs to 
guard the extensive ruins of this once magnificent villa 
— perhaps the most splendid in the world. From this 
region the immense masses of travertine, out of which 
the Coliseum and many others of the great structures 
of Rome and the surrounding country were originally 
built, was obtained, and still the ever-accumulating sup- 
plies continue to meet the largest demand, for this build- 
ing material. It is wonderful to think, that the time 
was, when these stupendous monumental piles were 
slender vegetables, in the form of reeds, straw, and drift- 
wood, floating about, the sport of winds and waves, up- 
on the bosoms of these sulphurous lakes ! What long 
geological periods were necessary for these formations ! 
A short distance beyond the canal draining the lake, 
we again crossed the Anio on a bridge, at the farther 
end of which, on the left of the road, we passed the cir- 
cular tomb of Plautus Lucanus, strikingly like that of 
Cecilia Metella, on the Appian Way, not far from the 
gates of Rome. A mile beyond the bridge we turned 
nearly at right angles into the road leading to Hadrian's 
Villa. We were admitted by a ticket previously ob- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 161 

tained in Rome, and soon were under the guidance of 
a cicerone, who proceeded to point out the different lo- 
calities and objects of interest, and to describe the vari- 
ous purposes of the hundreds of apartments, the remains 
of which were scattered over the grounds. 

By tlie way, our cicerone was a fine specimen of this 
class of distinguished personages who occupy so im- 
portant and prominent a place in pointing out, to intel- 
ligent travellers, the antiquities and curiosities in and 
about Rome. I will try to describe him. He was a 
sunburnt Italian — could speak no other language than 
his own vernacular, and even that but poorly. He wore 
coarse, checked shorts without knee-buckles, supplying 
the place with small cords, which were tied in no very 
graceful style. His stockings, covering his well-devel- 
oped lower limbs, had been white, I presume ; but in 
the discharge of his functions as cicerone, or, at work 
in the vineyards and gardens whicli occupy a large por- 
tion of the villa, they had assumed the color of hog 
drivers' over the muddy roads of Virginia. He had on 
a pri.ir of shoes that came up to his ankles, with an in- 
step that flapped over like a hound's ears, while the 
soles were filled with nails not unlike those with which 
the tire is fastened on the rim of a cart-wheel. His 
jacket, made of what had been a piece of blue cloth of 
some description, was well worn, and seemed to shrink 
from a close and neighborly contact with his breeches, 
which were worn without suspenders, and thus exposing 
a nether garment which looked as though it had not 
taken its turn on the last washing day. He wore, withal, 
a small jaunty hat, which he stuck on the side of his head, 
with a peculiar grace, from beneath which his uncombed 
black, coarse hair strayed over his neck, half concealing 
two small ear-rings which he wore as ornaments. 



162 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

This distingushed official felt the importance of his 
calling ; and with a stick in his hand, something after 
the style of exhibitors of panoramic paintings, who have 
a memoritor explanation to deliver, he proceeded to 
describe and comment on the different ruins, while our 
courier, Suderie, translated into very bad English — 
sometimes quite as unintelligible as the bad Italian of 
our guide. We had it all in the guide-books ; but out 
of compliment to the cicerone, we had to submit, and 
patiently listen, nodding assent, and admiration, and 
saying, " Yes, yes," all the while feeling that it was 
quite a bore to be compelled to hear his story out. It 
was a rich and amusing scene. 

We passed among the remains of imperial palaces, 
extensive baths, ruined barracks, wide encircling amphi- 
theatres, broken arches, academic halls, crumbling tem- 
ples and columns, and trod upon the fragments of what 
had once been almost breathing marble. We wandered 
through Elysian fields, military parade-grounds, and last 
of all, through the vale of Tempe ; and time would 
fail me to tell what else. In a word, we saw the ruins 
of the villa of a proud, rich old Roman, that covered 
a space of ten miles in circuit, occupying a lovely sight, 
embracing a great variety of surface, lying at the base of 
the hills and mountains that form the framework of the 
matchless campagna on the east, commanding a view of 
the distant city, and a magnificent landscape of bound- 
less extent. But everybody has heard something of 
Hadrian's Villa. 

We again mounted our fine, open carriage, and get- 
ting ahead of a dozen or more vehicles bound for Tivo- 
li, our coachman cracked his whip, and put his horses 
ofi" at a full gallop, and soon we were ascending the 
mountain, by a finely-graded road to the place of our 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 163 

destination. At twelve o'clock we were standing un- 
der the shadow of, what passes for an old temple of 
Ycsta, overlooking the vast chasm into which the foaming 
waters of the cascade of Tivoli are poured over a rocky 
bed, dashed into feathery spray that rose up like the 
smoke from an iron forge in some of the mining districts 
of our mountains in Virginia. The sun was shining in 
full, unclouded, noonday splendor, and the bold, glorious 
arches of two great rainbows were spanning the deep, 
dark ravine, and mingling their beautiful tints with 
the diamond spray, that rose, mist-like, from the hidden 
depths below. 

From our point of observation a terraced, zigzag path 
wound down the steep declivity, I should say, at least, 
three hundred feet furnishing commanding and pictu- 
resque views from various angular points of the descent, 
adown which scores of visiters were passing, and here 
and there in groups, leaning over the rocky barriers, 
and gazing in entranced delight upon the wild, roman- 
tic, and exciting scenes around. Ascending on the 
other side of the deep ravine, by a path less precipi- 
tous, but very steep, large numbers of ladies, mounted 
on donkeys, goaded on by noisy attendants, were seen 
through the openings in the trees, and the gaps in the 
rocky battlements. 

It was not long before our party was again in the 
hands of a sprightly little boy as our guide, who, with 
an intelligent face, and a winning smile, took the lead 
and pointed out the objects of interest on the way. 
We were conducted into dark, rocky caverns, far below 
the overhanging precipice above, where the wild tumul- 
tuous waters, breaking through the crevices in the 
rocks, foamed and dashed around and beneath us, pro- 
ducing a reverberating sound like the waves of the 



164 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ocean in a storm, dashing upon a cavernous shore. In 
another part of the descent we passed through a long, 
under-ground corridor, excavated by Gregory XIY., 
in the face of the calcareous rock, with arches and 
columns, and open spaces looking out upon the cas- 
cades, and furnishing glimpses of the surrounding hills, 
and the ya^vning chasms that opened beneath us. 

The present cascade is artificial. The stream, since 
the breaking up of the former cascade, has been con- 
ducted under the hill by two great tunnels for the dis- 
tance of a few hundred yards, and suddenly bursts out 
from its confinement — leaping and flashing in the sun- 
light, and plunges over the rocks in a sort of frantic 
delight, and goes rushing down the deep abyss, shout- 
ing and rejoicing, flinging the notes of its thunder song 
upon the winds, xin immense amount of money and 
labor has been bestowed upon these falls, and their his- 
tory is curious and interesting, but it does not fall in 
with my purpose to go into any minuteness of detail. An 
ancient villa was hung upon the face of the precipice, 
on the farther side from the town, with the various 
apartments of an extensive palace excavated in the 
rock. These are still open, and are pointed out to 
visiters by the guide. Returning by another route, wq 
reached the town, and took a turn amid its crooked, 
narrow and dirty streets, where we were beset by beg- 
gars at almost every step, who in the most touching, 
and plaintive tones of apparent distress, begged us to 
give them something, " Signore, Signore," the little 
children addressed us, extending their hands, and look- 
ing us wistfully in the face. 

The women, many of whom had pretty faces, black 
eyes and hair, were seated in the streets, at their doors 
variously employed. Some were knitting ; some cleaning 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 165 

wheat by a slow and tedious process ; some spinning in 
a style that must be seen to be understood. The flax 
was attached to a distafi' and drawn off to form the 
thread, which was twisted by twirling the broach on 
which it was wound with the fingers. They seemed to 
do it with a great deal of ease and facility, but there 
must be some art in winding it on the broach so as to 
prevent it running off as the broach is twirled in twist- 
ing the thread. Other women, and not a few, were 
engaged in less interesting employment, to me at least, 
as a spectator, perhaps equally agreeable to them. 
They were seated upon the ground, leaning against the 
walls of the houses, in the sunshine, with little urchins 
stretched across their laps, busily employed in ridding 
the heads of the little brats, of what, in most civilized 
countries, would be regarded as a very great annoyance, 
and of which a person would be rid by a fine tooth comb. 
We were conducted to an old church, thence to the 
battlements in the rear, from which we had a fine view 
of a lovely villa at our feet, and of the wide, sweeping 
campagna. Rome was in full view, and the proud 
dome of Saint Peter's soared, in a sort of airy, bal- 
loon-like lightness, above every intervening and sur- 
rounding object. From this point we returned to the 
hotel, and out of doors, under the shadow of the temple 
of Yesta (so called), a circular temple of great anti- 
quity, with fluted Corinthian columns, we ate our din- 
ner, while the roar of the cascade was in our ears, and 
with a bright blue sky bending above us. But our car- 
riage was waiting, and our courier was hurrying us off. 
At the door we were again beset by a crowd of beggars, 
principally old, gray-headed women. We dispensed a 
few pauls among them, and taking our seats, we were 
soon descending the mountain toward the campagna. 



166 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

In this descent we had the most splendid views of 
the surrounding country, and especially of the cam- 
pagna, that we had ever enjoyed. The whole undula- 
ting plain, from the base of the hill below us to the dis- 
tant Mediterranean, and from the mountains on the 
north to the Pontine Marshes on the south, embracing 
hundreds of thousands of square acres, all lay before 
us. While convents upon the hillsides, in thfe midst 
of old olive-orchards, were gleaming in the sunlight 
above us ; the deep, green foliage of the olive was 
around us, and beneath, and far away, the sparkling 
waters of the Anio might be traced for many miles, 
winding over the campagna, toward the point of its 
entrance into the Tiber a few miles above Rome. On 
two or three mountain summits to the north of us, little 
towns and villages were perched upon the rocks, and 
one small village reposed in a sweet valley, midway 
between two mountains, shining in the evening sunlight, 
like a resplendent jewel on a heaving bosom of beauty. 

In our descent of the mountains, a very handsome 
girl, about fourteen years of age, with dark hair, black, 
lustrous eyes, and a symmetrical form, sprang suddenly 
from a rock by the wayside, with the agility of a deer, 
and ran along by our carriage with the fleetness of a 
gazelle, extending her hand, and in tones soft and sweet 
as the notes of a lute, she asked for a huanamino. One 
of our party took out a paul, and presented it to her, 
and in her attempt to take it, he clasped her hand, 
which she suddenly disengaged ; but nothing abashed, 
she kept up the chase until she succeeded in obtaining 
it from his hand. 

A pleasant drive of two hours and a half set us down 
in the court of our hotel in Rome. 

About nine o'clock to-night as we were sitting and 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 167 

conversing with some company in our parlor, suddenly 
we were most agreeable interru43ted by the notes of our 
national air, " Hail Columbia," breaking upon us in 
the sweetest strains of music from an adjoining room. 
Two Italian musicians had entered our front room, and 
learning, no doubt, that we were Americans, they struck 
up Hail Columbia. Their instruments were a violin 
and guitar, and the music was exceedingly sweet. Sud- 
denly a home feeling came over us, and instantly we 
set up a sort of fourth-of-July huzzaing. The effect 
upon us was almost electrical. When they ceased we 
called out, '' Encore, encore .^" and they gave it to us again. 
We then had Yankee Doodle and the Marseilles Hymn, 
with some other familiar pieces, all of which were ad- 
mirably played, and were very pleasant to us. We put 
a few pauls in the hands of the musicians, and with 
polite acknowledgments of the favor they retired, 
probably to return again to-morrow evening as these 
Italians rarely forget favors. 

To-day I have been reviewing and closing up in Kome. 
To-morrow we leave for Naples. This morning was 
spent in shopping, dropping into studios, churches, and 
galleries. This afternoon we took a drive out of the 
Porta del Popolo as far as the hill beyond Ponte Molle, 
from which we had another fine view of Rome, and the 
surrounding campagna to a great distance. On the 
Ponte Molle we met a large number of French soldiers 
returning from a drill and review on a sort of Champ 
de Mars, just beyond the bridge. This celebrated 
bridge occupies a position near the place of the battle 
between Constantino and Maxentius, at the time the 
sign of the cross appeared to Constantino with the 
word " J/z hoc signo vince.^^ Returning, I hastened to 
Trinta de Monti to hear vespers, but was too late. 



168 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

To-morrow, a grand Te Deum is to be sung in tlio 
Sistine Chapel over the^peace news from Paris. Rome 
responds heartily to everything of interest from Paris. 
Well she may, for the pope retains his seat in the Vati- 
can by the clemency of Napoleon III. The elements 
of revolution are rife in the city. The Liberalists hate 
the pope and curse the cardinals, and are only waiting 
their day to break out in open rebellion against the 
government. 

I have been much pleased with my sojourn in Rome. 
The ruins and other objects of interest have so occupied 
my time that more than two weeks have glided away 
like the ever-changing scenes of a panorama, or the 
dissolving views of a magic lantern. The longer I 
remain, the longer I wish to stay. I feel as though I 
should not soon grow weary of this city, in which so 
much is combined to engage the attention. 

But it is late at night, and I am weary. The murmur 
of the fountain that plays under my window, in the 
court of the hotel, lulls me to sleep. The pattering 
sound of the waters on the marble basin is not unlike 
the falling of raindrops upon the roof, and the effect 
upon my jaded mind is like that produced by an April 
rain at home, when night has closed in, and the regular 
patter, patter, patter, upon the shingles hangs lead 
upon my eyelids, and closes up the senses, and sings 
me to sleep, like a weary child in its mother's arms. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 169 



CHAPTER XI. 

FROM ROME TO NAPLES. 

Departure from Rome. — Albano. — A Donkey Ride. — Night at Cis- 
terna. — Pontine Marshes. — Terracina. — Fondi. — Customhouse. — 
Orange Groves and Scenery. — Cicero's Tomb. — Mola di Gaeta. — 
Beggars. — Condition of Females. — Fine Agricultural District. — 
Mount Vesuvius. — Arrival in Naples. — First Impressions. 

CiSTERNA, April 3. — This morning at a little after 
eight o'clock our party left the Hotel de I'Europe in 
Rome, where for more than two weeks we had been 
comfortably quartered, and highly pleased with the 
entertainment ; and in a few moments we were passing 
out of the court into the streets, while half a score of 
servants, and other attaches of the hotel stood around, 
wishing us a pleasant and happy journey. We were 
mounted in a snug and comfortable vetturini, with an 
extension top which was thrown back, so as to make it 
an open carriage, affording us an opportunity of seeing 
everything around us without obstruction. Our baggage 
was well lashed on behind, and our courier mounted on 
a high seat with the driver. We had three good horses 
attached to our vehicle, under a contract to be landed 
at Capua, on our way to Naples, in something less than 
three days. By this arrangement we can take an even- 
ing train at Capua, and reach Naples in three days from 
Rome ; resting two whole nights on the way. 

8 



170 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

We passed down the Via Coudotti into the Corsa, 
which we traversed for some distance, then via some- 
thing else near the Pantheon ; then by Trajan's Column 
and Forum, and directly we were passing round the 
Coliseum, that sublime ruin which seems to grow and 
expand at each succeeding visit, then by Saint John 
Lateran, and the Church of the Sacred Stairway, and 
in a few minutes we were at the Porta San Giovanni, 
the point of departure from the city for Naples. Here 
we were detained. 

Our driver had failed to procure his passport and had 
to send some one for it. After half an hour or more 
it was brought by an old woman, who had a face that 
bore the marks of violent passions — hard, sunburnt, 
wrinkled. Her hair was coarse and sandy, and her 
frame square and firmly built. The driver refused to 
pay her as much for her trouble as she demanded, and 
a most stormy and menacing quarrel ensued. Their 
voices were elevated, and their words very emphatic. 
The old woman held her ground and outtalked the 
man. He attempted to push her aside and start ; but 
she was not to be foiled, and she multiplied her words, 
became more infuriated and stormy, until her passions 
burst forth in a perfect lava tide of bitter v/ords, and I 
should think burning oaths, if the Italians know how to 
swear. The driver mounted his seat, but she pursued 
him with the most clamorous demands for her pay, until 
he tossed her an additional amount, whereupon she 
cooled off as rapidly as a piece of red-hot iron drop- 
ped into a tub of cold water. Happily for our party 
our courier, Suderie, does all our quarrelling. But 
there is scarcely a bargain made with these Italians, or 
money paid in fultihnent of a contract, that is not at- 
tended with quarrelling. They always ask exorbitant 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 171 

prices, chaffer and fall from twenty-five to fifty per 
cent., and then demand more in final settlement than 
was agreed upon in the contract. 

I left Rome with reluctance. A sojourn of more 
than two weeks in that old city, I regard as the most 
delightful episode in my life. Parting from the Porta 
San Giovanni on the south of the city, we traversed a 
section of the campagna that filled the mind with com- 
mingled emotions of sadness, wonder, and sublimity. 
As far as the eye could reach over the desolate waste, 
it was met with the ruins of ancient villas, and the 
crumbling, decaying remains of once splendid mansions, 
the homes of wealth, luxury, and pride, among which, 
the most conspicuous objects were, the long lines of the 
Claudian, Tempulan, and Marcian aqueducts, " spanning 
the dreary waste with their gigantic arches." The 
road runs directly south, and nearly parallel with the 
Via Appia, and not more than half a mile from it, for 
the distance of eleven miles, where the new road falls 
into the old way, and continues over it, with occasional 
detours of a few miles at a time, all the way to Capua, 
from which place there is now a railroad to Naples, of 
twenty miles. 

But I felt sad on leaving Rome. I had become 
singularly attached to it ; its ruins, gray with time 
and rich in historical associations, had become endeared 
to me, and it was not without some regrets and many 
lingering looks that I parted from its portals. I feel 
as though I could tarry for months in this old city and 
never grow weary. I love to clamber about the remains 
of its ancient 4emples and palaces, to ramble through 
the long-deserted halls of its departed emperors, and 
gather the roses and flowers that bloom over the tombs 
of its mighty men of renown. I love to enter the por- 



172 RANDOJM SKETCHES AND 

tals of its splendid churches ; to stroll through its 
public and private galleries, in which are collected the 
finest productions of painting and sculpture in the 
world ; to visit the suburban villas of its rich and 
princely families ; to drop into the studios of its artists ; 
to pause on the bridges that span the Tiber ; to linger in 
its manufactures of mosaics and cameos, to saunter 
about the public garden's on the Pincian hill at sunset ; 
to visit Saint Peter's ; to stand on its lofty dome ; to 
ride over the campagna. 

I love Rome. Its ruins are monumental, and an in- 
structive epitaph is inscribed on every column that stands 
in isolated and solitary grandeur amid the rubbish that 
conceals the buried temples and palaces of which it 
was a part. Every fragment of marble, broken from 
old capitals, entablatures, and friezes ; every piece of old 
mosaic floors turned over by the foot in passing ; and 
3very patch of plastering on decaying walls and ceil- 
ings, with its frescoes, arabesques, and bas-reliefs, has its 
history, and becomes a connecting link between the 
present and the remote and shadowy past. But I must 
away from Rome, much as I love it. 

About eleven miles south of Rome the road which 
we were travelling fell into the old Appian Way. This 
old road until recently was the main thoroughfare to 
the city. It leaves Rome by the Porta San Sebastiano, 
and passes by the old Saint Sebastian church from which 
the catacombs are entered, by the tomb of Cecilia Me- 
tella, and runs directly south, in a perfectly straight 
line for the distance of sixteen miles to Albano, a small 
town which occupies an elevated site on the declivity 
of the Alban mount, from which the whole campagna, 
extending northward, beyond and around Rome, and 
westward to the Mediterranean, the blue waters of 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 173 

which may be seen as far as the eye can reach, lies 
within the range of vision. 

We reached Albano about twelve o'clock, and in a 
few minutes our whole party, four in number, were 
mounted on donkeys, something larger than big, very 
big dogs ; and with a stout lad for our guide in the 
rear^ with a long stick, beating the donkeys, and 
whooping and hallooing at a boisterous rate, away we 
went up the hills, and through the streets, until we 
passed the outer limits of the town, and ascending a 
steep point, covered with rocks, we found ourselves 
upon the borders of the Alban lake, a beautiful and 
lovely sheet of water, embosomed, like a gem, in the 
top of the mountain. Oh ! it was a lovely prospect. 
The lake fills the crater of an extinct volcano, and is 
set in a frame worthy of the jewel that glitters on the 
brow of the mountain. The sheet of water is two and 
a half miles long by one and a half wide. We rode 
around it. The road was smooth, smothered in the 
dark foliage of old, evergreen trees, with jagged 
branches, and sturdy trunks. Our guides^ who follow- 
ed us with sticks, commenced whooping and hallooing 
again, and pouring on the blows in rapid succession 
upon the hinder parts of our donkeys, and away we 
went in a sweeping gallop down the hill, not a little 
delighted with the novelty of the excursion, and the 
mode of travelling. In the height of our speed 
one of Mr. Warwick's stirrups, which was attached 
with a slender string, broke, and he pitched for- 
ward, clasping the donkey round the neck, and 
stretching his limbs backward, which extended quite 
behind the little animal, that had well-nigh doubled it- 
self up in the effort to stop suddenly. The rider pre- 
sented a ludicrous figure that would have formed an 



174 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

original for Harpers' Magazine, or the Yankee Notions. 
At another point, on the borders of the lake, while we 
paused under a tree for another view, Mr. Branch at- 
tempted to stand on his saddle, and reach some twigs 
above him, v»dien by some means he lost his balance, and 
came down at full length upon the ground, with a force 
that might have done him serious damage, had he fallen 
from a taller animal than the one which bore him. 

We then rode to Castle Gondolfa — the seat of the 
pope's summer country palace, after which we made 
our way back to the hotel, where we got our dinner, 
and again set out on our journey. 

The road from Albano to Cisterna lies along the brow 
of the hills that run up to the campagna, and presents 
as fine a specimen of engineering as is met with once in 
a thousand miles on public highways* The scenery is 
perfectly enchanting. The Mediterranean was in full 
view on the one hand, and the mountains, with lovely 
valleys intervening, on the other, while olive-orchards 
and vineyards were around us. We passed through 
Genzano, and Yalletri. From the latter place we be- 
gan to descend toward Cisterna, with the Pontine 
Marshes lying before us, presenting a wide-spread, 
monotonous plain, relieved only by the high points of 
headland running up to its border, and a solitary moun- 
tain rising upon its surface, thrown up, most probably 
by some volcanic force. 

Cisterna is a small town. There is nothing here to 
interest the traveller. The hotel at which we are stay- 
ing is very poor, but there are several parties in the 
house on their way to Naples, whose presence does 
much to compensate for the absence of those comforts 
which we find in better hotels. 

MoLA Di Gaeta, April 4. — This morning we left Cis- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 175 

tenia at five o'clock, and were entering on the Pontine 
Marshes at sunrise. The view was pleasant. An ap- 
parently interminable flat plain stretched before us. 
across which the Appian Way, straight as a gun-bar- 
rel, ran on and on as far as the eye could reach, skirted 
by double rows of old elms on each side, while the sun 
came up gloriously from beyond the Volscian mountains, 
whose giant shadows were projected far over the marsh- 
es. The mountains being of unequal height at diJGferent 
points, and at unequal distances from our position of 
observation, their sides presented a beautiful variety of 
colors — light and shade — deeper and softer blue, from 
the dark purple to the more delicate cerulean tints that 
melt into pink, rose, and sapphire. 

The Pontine Marshes are not a swampy, marshy 
region, at present, as most persons suppose ; but, by the 
system of drainage kept up for so many years and the 
cultivation under which they have been brought, tliey 
now present rather the appearance of rich, alluvial low 
grounds, such as border large streams in a low, flat 
country. The air is insalubrious, and scarcely any 
person lives permanently on the marshes. But we 
everywhere saw large flocks of cattle and horses, and 
occasionally herds of sheep and goats. The fields of 
wheat were green, and appeared very promising. But 
that road — there is nothing like it in the world ! For 
more than thirty miles it is perfectly straight — not a 
crook or a curve in it, or the slightest deviation from 
a right line. Withal it is perfectly level, and as smooth 
and firm as a marble pavement, and embowered all the 
way with lofty, spreading elms. The grade is so perfect 
that the irons of a railroad might be laid down without 
any change of the surface. This road across the 
marshes has been in existence for more than two 



176 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

thousand years. It was built by Appius some time be- 
fore the Christian era. Along it the old Roman em- 
perors, and the rich men of the imperial city, and the 
orators and poets, travelled in their excursions south- 
ward to Naples, Baise, and other places on the Medit- 
erranean, in pursuit of health, recreation, and pleasure. 
Over this road Cicero often passed from his Formian 
villa to Rome, and it was on this same old Appiau Way 
that Horace made his celebrated journey to Brun- 
dusium, recorded in his Satires, with which every 
school-boy is familiar. 

But above all, especially to the Christian, it was over 
this road that Saint Paul travelled, when he was car- 
ried by Julius the centurion to Rome as a prisoner. 
The same natural scenery surrounded him eighteen 
hundred years ago, that was around us this morning. 

We passed Appii Forum, which is now a post-house 
— nothing more — and so of the Three Taverns men- 
tioned by the Apostle. We arrived at Terracina about 
ten o'clock, having travelled near forty miles. Here 
we rested and got our dinner. 

Terracina occupies a narrow slip of land, lying be- 
tween the base of the Volscian mountains, and the 
Mediterranean — the mountains running right up to the 
sea at the point occupied by the hotel at which we 
stopped, and hanging over the waters in lofty, precipi- 
tous, and rocky heights, that make the head grow giddy 
in looking up, from the hotel window, to their summits. 
There is barely room for the road to pass between the 
foot of the loftiest battlement of rocks, and the margin 
of the waters that break along the beach. 

From Terracina we passed along upon the shores of 
the Mediterranean for several miles — the road in some 
places, cut out of the solid rock, and everywhere lying 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 177 

under the frowning brow of the mountains, that towered 
high and haughtily above us. At the arched gateway 
Potella, the entrance from the papal to the Neapolitan 
states, our passports were vised, and a few miles farther 
on at Fondi, our baggage according to the laws of the 
realm, should have been examined ; but our courier, 
following the universal custom, by placing a couple of 
dollars or so in the hands of the customhouse officers, 
all of whom, in Italy, have elastic consciences, man- 
aged to get it through without unstrapping a trunk, or 
turning a key. In matters of this sort we leave all to 
our courier, Suderie, and never stop to debate the ques- 
tion of morals involved in such matters. At Fondi we 
found ourselves in the very midst of the most fruitful 
orange and lemon groves that I have ever seen. And 
then the oranges are far superior to any that I ever 
tasted — large, juicy, and delicious; the pulp as ten- 
der as the pulp of a ripe watermelon, and the peel as 
easily torn off with the fingers as a wrapping of half- 
baked dough. These were offered for sale in great 
abundance, by as miserable a looking set of human be- 
ings as I have ever seen, at a Baiocco a piece. 

Fondi is a dirty, filthy, mean-looking place, with as 
wretched a population as can be found anywhere except 
in Civita Yecchia. The country around has long been 
a den of robbers, and mounted gens d'armes, even now 
have to accompany the public diligences for miles 
through some of these mountain passes to protect them 
against violence and robbery. And yet, in all the en- 
tire extent of the kingdom of Naples, there is not a more 
fertile and productive region than the country around 
Fondi, and southward toward Gaeta, near which place 
I am now writing. 

The scenery about Itri, and between Itri and Mola di 



178 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Gaeta, is unsurpassed by anytMng on this whole route. 
Descending a long mountain slope toward the seashore, 
just at the point where a wide expanse of plain and 
valley and ocean breaks upon the view, we came in 
sight of the tomb of Cicero. It is a large circular 
tower, very much like the tomb of Cecilia Metella, near 
Rome, and the tomb of Plautius Lucanus, near Hadri- 
an's Villa. We paused long enough to gather some 
flowers, and pick up some pieces of marble about the 
last resting-place of the great orator, and then hastened 
to the hotel at Mola di Gaeta, which stands just upon 
the borders of Cicero's Formian Yilla. About sunset, 
we strolled through the orange and lemon groves that 
cover the ruins of this villa, and enjoyed the delightful, 
ripe fruit, just from the bending boughs of the heavily- 
laden trees, and communed, in thought, with the genius 
of the man whose eloquent tongue and polished style 
have given him a reputation that shall live when the 
last stone of his lofty monument shall have been re- 
moved, and the last vestige of his once beautiful villa 
shall be blotted out for ever. This villa, which occupied 
a sunny slope on the seashore, and which was laid out 
with its shady walks, and grottoes, and bowers, was the 
favorite haunt of Cicero. Here he rambled and enjoy- 
ed, in summer-time, the Etesian breezes ; here he held 
his political conferences with Pompey, and here he en- 
joyed the society of Scipio and Laslius. From this villa 
he could look out upon the beautiful bay of Gaeta, 
which is scarcely less lovely than the bay of Naples ; a 
bay that engaged the pens of Homer, Horace, and Yir- 
gil, and is immortalized in their classical pages. It 
was here that Ulysses met the daughter of Antiphates, 
king of the Losstrygones ; while, in open view, a few 
miles up the shore, to the west, are the port and prom- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 179 

ontoiy to which Yirgil has given an ever-living interest, 
as the burial-place of the nurse of ^neas ; and not far 
distant, that portion of the snowy beach where Scipio 
Africanus and Laslius were in the habit of retiring, and 
amusing their leisure, in picking up shells, and enjoying 
the breezes from the sea. The town of old Gaeta, 
which occupies a bold promontory, running out into the 
sea, and which is, perhaps, the strongest military post 
in the Neapolitan states, is but three or four miles from 
Mola di Gaeta, and is celebrated as the place where the 
pope took refuge in 1849, during the revolutionary 
movements in Rome, which so much endangered his life 
as to make it necessary for him to escape from the city. 

Mola di Gaeta has a population of eight hundred, 
and is one of the most delightful resting-places on the 
shores of the Mediterranean. The hotel at which we 
are stopping — Hotel villa di Cicerone — is a pleasant 
house. The view from the window of my room is en- 
chanting. The promontory and town of Gaeta, a mile 
or so distant, are in full view. The wide sea is open be- 
fore me. The roar of the surf rises to my window. 
The rich foliage of the orange and lemon is under my 
eye, shading the ruins of the Formian Villa of Cicero. 

Naples, April 5. — We left Mola di Gaeta at seven 
o'clock this morning, and after a drive of three hours, 
through a romantic, vine-growing, orange, olive, and lem- 
on country, we stopped an hour at Sant' Agata, where we 
got a nice breakfast, and then put out for Capua, the rail- 
road terminus, at which point our vetturini travelling 
was to be substituted by the cars and steam. The coun- 
try about Sant' Agata seemed to swarm with beggars. 
Little children from five to ten years of age would run 
by our carriage, and turn somersets, and sing, and beg, 
until it was impossible to resist their importunities. 



18.0 EANDOM SKETCHES AND 

They would even pick up the pieces of cigars thrown 
to them, and put them in their hats, or into their mouths, 
and then make motions indicating that they were hun- 
gry, and still beg on in rhyme and prose, sometimes 
plaintively, sometimes clamorously. Such a state of 
society I have never before witnessed ; decidedly more 
forbidding here than in the papal states. The women 
seem to perform the most of the outdoor labor. In 
every direction we saw them at work in the vineyards 
and wheat-fields. Sometimes digging, sometimes car- 
rying immense burdens on their heads, but everywhere 
looking degraded and downtrodden. One could scarce- 
ly believe that the fair sex could be so far transformed 
into mere drudges and beasts of burden ; that the fe- 
male form could become so angular, rough, and mas- 
culine, and that woman could occupy a position so 
foreign from that for vdiich the great Creator seems to 
have designed her. These hard-working females wore 
coarse and scanty attire, and seemed, in most instances, 
to be unconscious that they were not filling the spheres 
in domestic life, for which they are physically and nat- 
urally adapted. Again and again we passed groups 
of them, in the towns and on the outskirts of villages, 
standing in the water up to their knees washing clothes, 
so arranging their skirts in the meantime as to prevent 
them from dangling in the stream. 

A few miles from Sant' Agata we fell into a more flat 
and level country which continued to Capua. From 
Capua to Naples, the railroad lies through one of the 
finest vine and agricultural districts on the globe. The 
whole country is like a garden. Every foot of the soil, 
which is exceedingly productive, is under cultivation. 
In this regard it far exceeded all ray expectations. 
The country around Boston is not in a more highly im- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 181 

proved condition, while the soil is a hundred fold more 
productive. As far as the eye can reach, it ranged over 
growing wheat, flourishing gardens of vegetables, and 
vineyards, with here and there, orange and lemon groves, 
richly laden with fruit. During the whole day Mount 
Vesuvius was in sight, but it was not until we passed 
Capua that it became sufficiently distinct to see the 
cloud of smoke rising from its crater. At first this vol- 
ume of smoke looked for all the world like a fleecy 
mass of white clouds capping the mountain, and floating 
ofi" upon the wings of the wind, nor did this appearance 
materially change, until the sunlight was cut off from 
it as the evening came on, when it assumed a darker, slate- 
colored hue, and boiled up like smoke from a great fur- 
nace. It looked very much as I had pictured it a thousand 
times to my mind. We got to the depot about six o'clock. 
Naples is a flashing, dashing sort of place, very un- 
like Rome. It is a noisy, bustling, animated place. 
From the station we drove, I should think, fall three 
miles through the city — part of the way on the shores 
of the beautiful bay — before we reached the Hotel 
Vittoria et des Empereurs, at which we took lodgings. 
The streets were crowded. We passed fine carriages, 
fine shops, fine houses, and fine-looking people, remind- 
ing us of Paris, or Broadway in New York — alto- 
gether unlike anything we have seen since we left Paris. 
But I may be premature in the expression of any 
opinion in relation to Naples, as 1 have only been in 
the city three hours, and have not been outside the 
hotel since I arrived. At the table d'hote, at which I 
have just dined, I observed that almost every one spoke 
English. The fact is, the city is full of visiters, of 
whom the great majority are Americans and English. 
To-morrow is Sunday. 



182 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Naples, ^1^/77 6. — To-day for the most part has been 
rainy. I have kept pretty closely in-doors. This even- 
ing I took a little walk upon the street bordering the 
bay, which seems to be the principal promenade of the 
city. Fine carriages and fine houses were abundant. 
There was scarcely anything anywhere to remind me 
that it was the Christian Sabbath. The shops were 
open ; market-places crowded, and men hawking va- 
rious articles along the streets. How much the Gospel, 
in its purity, is needed in all Europe. Without it, 
men can have no correct standard of morals. I am 
more and more convinced, every day, that nothing but 
an unqualified submission to the Bible, as the only rule 
of moral conduct, will make men what they ought to 
be. All other standards are false and defective ; and 
the substitution of the teachings of the Romish church, 
in her traditions, and so forth, is but little better, if any, 
than the philosophical teachings of downright infidelity. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 183 



CHAPTER XII. 

NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

The Royal Museum. — A Day at Herculaneum and Pompeii. — Ex- 
cavations. — Amphitheatre. — Beggars. — Mount Vesuvius. 

Naples, April 7. — This whole day has been devoted 
to the Royal Museum. In the city of Naples, apart 
from its fine streets, beautiful gardens, gay and fashion- 
able promenades, and the motley mixture of its in- 
habitants, there is comparatively little to interest the 
traveller. The Royal Museum, of course, forms an ex- 
ception. This is perfectly inexhaustible. The collec- 
tion of curiosities, from the excavated cities of Her- 
culaneum and Pompeii, congregated in this museum, 
alone, would require many weeks to examine with any 
degree of care. One may read here, the whole of the 
domestic and private history of the social life and 
habits of the inhabitants of these long-buried cities — 
not in books and manuscripts — but in marble, paint- 
ings, frescoes, household and kitchen furniture, tablets, 
vases, and a thousand other articles quite too tedious 
to enumerate. We have here lamps, candelabra, agri- 
ricultural instruments, hoes, pickaxes, spades, door- 
knockers, keys, surgical instruments, ink-stands, mir- 
rors, combs, pins, playthings for children, moulds for 
pastry, and various kinds of fruits in a charred state — 
such as figs, prunes, grapes, apricots, etc., etc. ; and 



184 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

l)read with the baker's name on it, looking as though it 
were but a short time from the oven. There are also 
such things as hinges, bits for horses, locks, fish-hooks, 
and an endless number of ornaments for females, in the 
way of rings, breast-pins, ear-rings, hair ornaments, 
and very many of them in a style of workmanship that 
is scarcely surpassed by all the discoveries and improve- 
ments of the nineteenth century. 

" In short," to use the language of another, " these 
marvellous rooms of the museum, present an epitome of 
the whole domestic and daily life of Rome under the em- 
pire. By the help of the innumerable objects contained 
in this unique collection, we can follow out all the hours 
of a Roman day. We sit, or rather recline, with the 
wealthy nobleman of Pompeii at his meals, and criticise 
his table furniture, and almost pronounce upon the fla- 
vor of his dishes or the age of his wine. We peep 
into the dressing-room of his wife, and see her toilet 
apparatus spread out before us ; her rouge, her mirrors, 
her ornaments ; in short all the weapons with which she 
fought off the approach of time. We penetrate into the 
kitchen ; see the charcoal lighted in the brazier, hear 
the water bubbling in the urn, and snuff the steam of 
the dishes that simmer in the saucepans. We sit with 
the student in his library, go out into the fields with the 
farmer, visit the shops of artisans and mechanics, and 
accompany the surgeon in his professional calls. We 
go with the respectable citizen to the theatre, and with 
the wild young man to the gaming-table, and see him 
lose his money to a Greek blackleg. From all that is 
spread before us, we gather the truth that man is an ani- 
mal with very few tricks ; that the same wants impelled 
and the same passions disturbed him, in those days as 
now ; that the same dangers lay in his path, and the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 185 

same temptations led him astray ; and that life was the 
mingled web of suffering and enjoyment in Pompeii, 
eighteen hundred years ago, that it is to-day in London 
or New York." 

It is amazing to see to what an extent the manufac- 
ture of articles of convenience and of ornament was car- 
ried at this age of the world. I felt, in hastily looking 
over this vast collection, embracing such an endless 
variety of articles, adapted to so many purposes, that 
we had less cause to boast of the inventions, discoveries, 
and mechanical skill of the nineteenth century than I 
had been accustomed to believe. The galleries of stat-. 
uary embrace a very large number of pieces, the great 
majority of which have no other interest than that which 
arises from the places in which they were found, and 
the history of their • introduction into this museum. 
The group of the Farnese Bull, Mercury in repose, the 
Apollo, and a modern piece just finished, and designed 
as a present for the king of Naples, pleased me most, 
of all the thousands of pieces in the sculpture halls. 
Among the paintings there were of course many fine 
pieces, belonging to different schools, but I can not occu- 
py the space necessary to mention them. 

April 8. — This whole day has been given to Hercu- 
laneum and Pompeii. In addition to the party of young 
gentlemen who are travelling with me, we had Mr, and 
Mrs. Guild of Poxbury, near Boston, in our company, 
two most agreeable travelling companions who have ac- 
companied us from Pome, and who have contributed 
much to our enjoyment in the social circle. It is a 
happiness to meet with such persons in a foreign land. 

Herculaneum is about six miles east of Naples, near 
the shores of the bay ; Pompeii lies some seven miles 
beyond, in the same direction, and at the base of the 



186 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

southeastern slope of Vesuvius. These cities were 
covered during an eruption of Vesuvius in the year of 
our Lord 97. Herculaneum was covered with lava, and 
Pompeii with hot ashes — not molten lava. The work 
of excavating Herculaneum, which is buried at least 
eighty feet beneath the surface, is very difi&cult ; that 
of Pompeii, comparatively easy. A modern town of 
ten thousand inhabitants, called Resina, stands over 
Herculaneum, and as the visiter threads the labyrinthian 
mazes of the great theatre which has been partially ex- 
cavated, he can hear the rumbling of the carriages, and 
the tramp of horses along the streets, resounding through 
successive layers of lava and rubbish, more than eighty 
feet in thickness. 

This theatre, it is said, could accommodate a larger 
number of person than any theatre now in Naples, the 
San Carlo not excepted, whicli is next to the largest — 
if not, in fact, the largest theatre in the world. There 
is a small portion of Herculaneum on the southeastern 
border of Resina, which has been laid entirely bare. 
Here we have the clean, paved streets, the large and 
commodiously arranged private dwellings, with their 
little gardens in the court, their corridors running round 
the gardens, their wine-cellars, and servants' apartments ; 
and, in many places, the frescoes and mosaics in an almost 
perfect state of preservation . It is amazing to see to what 
an extent mosaic floors were used by these ancient Ro- 
mans. Scarcely a ruin is found, where the mosaic floors 
are not also discovered — not confined to a single apart- 
ment — but in every room, and even in the outer courts. 

From Herculaneum, which lies directly on the way 
from Naples, we hastened on to Pompeii. We might 
have gone by railroad, but we preferred a private car- 
riage, as this mode of conveyance allowed us to stop 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 187 

wherever we pleased by the way. A railroad to 
Pompeii ! What old Roman ever dreamed of such a 
thing ? The work of excavation has been progressing 
here for more than a hundred years, and, as yet, not 
more than one sixth of the city has been uncovered. 
The work still goes on, but at a very slow pace. If 
the Americans had it in hand, with a few thousand 
Irish laborers employed all the time, in less than five 
years they would have the whole city, with all its hid- 
den wonders, exposed to the sunlight. The part al- 
ready cleared off presents the appearance of a city but 
recently destroyed by fire. The streets are clean, and 
very well paved, wearing the marks of the carriage- 
wheels that rolled over them in the days of the men of 
distinction whose tombs still remain in long lines upon 
the street which traverses the suburb called Augusta 
Felix. The walls of the houses are still perfect, in 
very many instances, and whole apartments — saloons, 
bed-chambers, and private boudoirs^ are nearly as fresh 
as if they had been vacated but for a few days. 

It requires several hour? — at least four or five — con- 
stantly occupied, to make any tolerable survey of the 
part already excavated. The visiter passes along the 
streets, under the direction of a guide, and is shown 
into the different private dwellings and public build- 
ings; into the temples, academies, bakehouses, apothe- 
cary-shops, surgeons' ofi&ces, prisons, baths, merchants' 
shops, etc., which stand along the way. The frescoes, 
arabesques, and other paintings, in many of the rooms, 
are still bright and distinct ; but who ever saw such 
pictures, as decorations, intended to meet the eyes of 
any but those whose minds are utterly debased by famili- 
arity with scenes of debauchery, lewdness, and coarse 
vulgarity ? The execution is fine. The figures are 



188 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

often graceful, elegant, attractive ; but what do they 
represent ? Unzoned nymplis, Yenuses, grotesque 
fairies, bounding Bacchantes, and undraped men I 
There are thousands of pictorial and sculptured repre- 
sentations here, which must have been exposed to the 
eyes of men, women, and children, in all the private 
and public walks of life, as they are now exposed, in 
sunlight, to thousands of visiters, which are sufficiently 
indelicate, to say the least, to tinge the cheek of modesty 
even to recall them in the dark. Many of these paint- 
ings have been carefully taken from the walls, and are 
now among the curiosities in the Royal Museum of 
Naples. More recently the frescoes are permitted to 
remain, and some of them are concealed by temporary 
shutters, which are opened by the guides, to prying and 
curious visiters, who like to see everything that can be 
seen. In many places the beautiful mosaics are un- 
touched. Here they lie, as bright and attractive as 
they were two thousand years ago. Many whole floors 
have been removed, and formed into magnificent tables, 
as ornaments to the splendid apartments of royal pal- 
aces ; others have been used for the floors of the bed- 
chambers and drawing-rooms of lordly mansions in dif- 
ferent parts of Europe. They are to be seen in Naples, 
Rome, and various other places. In Pompeii they form 
the pavement before the doors, and in the open courts 
of private dwellings, as well as in the temples, public 
and private baths, and places of amusement in the 
city. There is nothing in modern times, that surpasses, 
in point of elegance of taste and workmanship, the 
mosaics of Pompeii. 

The amphitheatre of Pompeii, which occupies a site 
in the northern part of the city, was not entirely cover 
ed by the eruption which so completely buried the resi 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 189 

of the city. This has been cleared, and is found in a 
pretty good state of preservation. After visiting the 
portion of the city already excavated, and taking a 
lunch, and resting an hour or so, we visited the amphi- 
theatre. It was a lovely afternoon. The sun was de- 
scending the western slope of a clear, blue sky, and the 
shadow of Mount Vesuvius was stretching out over 
the beautiful plain that surrounds it. There was a half 
dozen in our party. We sat upon the seats which were 
occupied by the fashionable and pleasure-loving families 
of Pompeii, and surveyed the arena where tragic and 
bloody scenes passed before the eyes of thousands of 
beholders in other days. Here were still the passages 
and doors by which the wild beasts and gladiators en- 
tered the arena. Around us were the reserved and 
select seats occupied by the nobility. Sweeping, on all 
sides, rising tier above tier, were the circular seats for 
the other classes of society. 

In this vast amphitheatre, which is four hundred and 
ninety feet by three hundred and thirty-five feet, its 
form g.s usual, being elliptical, which could accommo- 
date, perhaps, twenty thousand persons, it is believed 
the people of Pompeii were assembled, witnessing some 
exciting gladiatorial contest, at the time of the eruption 
which swallowed up the city. What a scene of excite- 
ment must have ensued ! What cries of distress and 
shrieks of terror and dismay rang out over this arena, 
amid the dismal roar of the descending fire-storm, and 
the howling of the afirighted and terrified wild beasts 
in their confinement below ! What a crowd of shiver- 
ing ghosts were hurried from this spot into the presence 
of the great God! Pompeii was like Sodom and 
Gomorrah — full of crime, pollution, and uncleanness. 
The patience of Heaven was exhausted, and an aven- 



ILO RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ging Deity buried from human sight, as he did the cities 
of the plain, the guilty inhabitants of this corrupt and 
wicked sink of iniquity. What a change has come 
over this place of amusement, gayety, and festive mirth. 
The merry voices and exciting shouts that once echoed 
around these walls have long since been hushed in the 
silence of death. The fair forms and beautiful faces 
that once filled these seats have, centuries ago, moul- 
dered to dust. The hearts that beat high with the ex- 
citement of pleasure have ceased to throb with pul- 
sations of joy. A long, long dreary night of unbroken 
silence has reigned over this spot, and now the bat 
clings to its dark inner walls ; the lizzard creeps fronr 
the crevices in the broken and dismantled seats ; tha 
serpent glides over the arena, and among the tangled 
grass ; while rank weeds, and shrubbery, and wild 
flowers, with mantling creepers, half conceal the ma- 
sonry of this vast, half subterranean structure, which 
was the pride of the Pompcians ! 

In ascending from the arena to the outer walls of the 
amphitheatre, our party encountered an enormous 
snake, basking in the sunshine. We commenced an 
attack upon him, which at last proved successful. We 
battered him with rocks, and pelted him with sticks. 
The sentinel, who is always upon the spot, came to our 
assistance. He pounced down upon him with the breech 
of his musket, and held him fast until we disabled him 
in part ; and then " the boys" put in upon him with 
their knives, and cut off his head and otherwise muti- 
lated his body. I protested against the knives being 
used for peeling apples and similar purposes, after 
having been employed in this piece of butchery ; but I 
believe they have since been used in this way. 

Beggars swarm about Pompeii, and greatly annoy 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 191 

visiters. While we were at our limcli they crowded 
around us, and begged us for every morsel we put in 
our mouths. We distributed bread and other provisions 
among them. Among other things, we had a large dish 
of maccaroni. This we gave to some little girls and 
an old woman. They greedily raked it into their aprons, 
and grabbing up whole liandfuls, they crammed it into 
their mouths, with the avidity of hungry dogs. One 
who has witnessed the manufacture of maccaroni, and 
seen a beggar eat it from her dirty apron, by the hand- 
ful, will not be likely to relish the dish again for a 
season. 

Mount Vesuvius is restless, and an eruption is ex- 
pected soon. The great spiral and convolving columns 
of heated smoke arise from its summit in ever-ascend- 
ing masses, and catching the sunlight, present a sublime 
and imposing spectacle to the eye. Vesuvius is always 
an object of never-tiring interest. Its form is peculiar. 
It rises from a beautiful and fertile plain, its base is 
skirted with vineyards and citron groves, and it stands 
alone in its majesty and grandeur, one of the most sub- 
lime and imposing spectacles on the globe. 

April 12. — The last three days preceding the pres- 
ent I have spent on a sick bed, under medical treat- 
ment, and a lonely, sad time it has been to me. It might, 
however, have been much worse. I was not without 
attentive, kind friends, though far away from home and 
among strangers. My attack of illness was brought on 
by a too free use of the delightful fruits of this clime, 
and by too much exposure to the sun during the day, 
and too much labor in writing, at night. It is not very 
pleasant to be sick away from home, even in one's own 
country ; but to be sick in a foreign and strange land, 
many thousands of miles away from one's native shore, 



192 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

is to be deprecated, almost, next to dying in a foreign 
land. The first day of my illness my young friends 
remained pretty constantly in my room. The second 
day I was thought to be much better, and they all made 
the excursion to Mount Vesuvius, and left me under 
the care of the physician and our courier. In the 
after part of the day my symptoms were not so favor- 
able, and I must confess that my spirits flagged ; and I 
became a little apprehensive that I might grow serious- 
ly worse, and began to anticipate events in the future 
that were rather gloomy, and such as I could not look 
in the face with composure. I shall not soon forget 
the kindness and attention of Dr. Nichols of Boston, 
during my confinement. He is a noble, generous heart- 
ed gentleman. 

This morning I rode with my travelling companions 
to Pozzioli — the Puteoli of the New Testament times, 
and mentioned as the place at which Saint Paul landed 
at the time he was on his way from Jerusalem to Rome, 
as a prisoner. Puteoli was then a very considerable 
seaport, and the principal point at which the vast 
amounts of grain were landed from Egypt, and other 
grain countries in transit to Rome. From this place 
the Appian Way led directly to the great metropolis. 
It was a town planted by the early Greek colonists, 
and was in existence as a place of trade and commerce 
long before the Christian era. Upon the skirts of this 
town Cicero had one of his favorite villas, the remains 
of which are still visible. It was in its beauty and 
prime when Saint Paul landed at a point that must 
have been in full view of it. There are here also the 
remains of some great and splendid heathen temples, 
beneath the shadow of which the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, in all probability ,L passed in chains ; and it is fair- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 193 

\y to be presumed, from what we know of this illustrious 
man, that, as he glanced upon these imposing architec- 
tural piles, and saw the people wholly given to idolatry, 
that the spirit of his great commission came upon him, 
and that he was moved as when he stood on Mars' hill, 
amid the altars and idol-gods of Athens, and that he 
desired to preach Jesus and the Resurrection in Pu- 
tcoli. There are here also the remains of a magnificent 
amphitheatre ; indeed it is in an almost complete state 
of preservation. It differs in some regards from the 
other great amphitheatres which I have visited — not 
in form — for all are elliptical or oval ; but in that it 
has a chariot course around it, and has also under- 
ground apartments beneath the arena, from which the 
wild animals were elevated through square holes into the 
arena, instead of entering from side-doors as at the Co- 
liseum and at Pompeii. It is said that this amphitheatre 
could accommodate more than thirty thousand specta- 
tors. It is very large, and the circular seats are still, 
for the most part in a good state of repair. Earth and 
rubbish, of course, have accumulated to an immense 
extent in its underground apartments, and around its 
outer walls. 

The columns of the celebrated temple of Serapis, 
found at this place, have excited a great deal of in- 
terest among geologists. (See Lyell's and Professor 
Silliman's Travels in Europe.) These columns show, 
indisputably, that the ground here has been sunk about 
fifteen feet below its relative position to the sea at the 
time they were erected, and since elevated at least 
ten feet — now bemg considerably lower than they 
were when the temple of which they are a part was 
built. 

In the immediate vicinity of Pozzioli we also visited 

9 



194 RANDOxM SKETCHES AND 

Solfatara, a partially-extinct volcano. Hero the his- 
sing, hot stream issues from the fissures in the earth, 
and the ground has a hollow sound beneath one's feet. 
There are boiling springs, in which an egg might be 
cooked in four minutes, and alum-works where consid- 
erable quantities of alum are produced, immediately 
adjacent to this region. There are strong indications 
of an underground communication between this volcanic 
hill and Mount Vesuvius, though some twenty miles 
apart. 

On our way back to Naples we turned aside to the 
Grotto delta cave (dog cave), where the experiment is 
made on the dog, for the amusement and gratification 
of visiters — suffocating him to death in the carbonic 
acid gas issuing from the rocks in the cave, and restor- 
ing him to life by dragging him out again into the open 
air. We declined seeing the experiment on several ac- 
counts. First, on the score of humanity. Secondly, 
because I was too unwell and tired to remain on the 
spot. Thirdly, and mainly in this case, because of the 
enormous charge made by the custode for this experi- 
ment. He abated his first demand, to be sure, about 
eighty per cent., but still his figure was too high. 

Nearer Naples, returning, after passing through the 
Posilipo Grotto, or tunnel, under a high hill — the 
main western outlet to the country from Naples — we 
visited the tomb of Virgil, or what passes for his tomb. 
It occupies a wild place on the brow of the hill over- 
hanging the entrance to the Grotto, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MORE ABOUT NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

Departure from Naples. — Delay in Starting. — View from the Deck 
of the Steamer, on leaving the Bay. — Sea-sickness. — Visit to the 
Protestant Cemetery. — Mrs. Olin's Grave. — New and Old Campo 
Santo. — Modes of Burial. — The Monks. — The King's Suburban 
Palace on Capo di Monte. — Population. — Manners and Morals. — 
Climate of Italy. — Soil. —Weather. 

April 15. — QOn hoard the steamer Capri, lying- at 
Civita Vecchia.} — The miserable policy of this port 
will not allow us to go ashore without great trouble 
and considerable expense ; withal, Civita Yecchia is 
the very last place in the world where a decent white 
man would wish to take quarters even for a single day ; 
and as we shall be detained here till late this after- 
noon, I have determined to avail myself of the favor- 
able opportunity presented to write up my journal. 

We left Naples on yesterday afternoon at five o'clock. 
The boat was advertised to start at three o'clock. We 
were hurried aboard, and there was great bustle and 
show of getting off. The chief of the city police was 
on board, with a corps of assistants, busily engaged in 
registering the names of all the passengers, and doing, 
I scarcely know what — mustering the passengers from 
one part of the boat to another, for the purpose of 
counting them to see if the number of living persons, 
corresponded to the list of names. A name was called out 



196 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

by the officer holding the list ; this was repeated by one 
of the officers of the boat, and so pronounced that one oft- 
en did not recognise his own name ; when the person 
called was really identified, he was required to pass to 
another part of the boat, a,nd this process was kept up 
until more than fifty passengers were counted. Some- 
body was missing. A notice-bell was rung. The steam 
was screaming from the steam-pipe. The machinery 
was put in motion, and there was a show of starting ; 
but it was only show. Somebody else came aboard, 
and somebody else went ashore, and another notice-bell 
was rung ; meanwhile there was a great deal of loud 
and boisterous talking — men running to and fro, and 
endless preparations for getting off were going on, 
until every one's patience was exhausted. It was past 
five o'clock when our boat crept out from among the 
shipping with which it was surrounded, and in a few 
moments it was standing out across the bay, heading 
south, toward the open sea. 

The city presented a very fine appearance as seen from 
the deck of the steamer. The eye could take in at one 
sweep the whole circular shore of the bay, lined with 
houses stretching for several miles around this beautiful 
sheet of water. Just back of the city, on the north 
and west, the two lofty elevations which stand out most 
conspicuously are Capo di Monte and the hill Posilipo ; 
the former crowned with the elegant suburban palace 
and extensive gardens of the King of Naples, and the 
latter dotted with villas, convents, and other public 
buildings ; while away in a northeasterly direction the 
never-to-be mistaken Mount Vesuvius is seen swelling 
up from a lovely valley, and lifting its head to the 
region of the clouds, from which the ever-issuing smoke 
ascends heavenward in spiral and convolving columns, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 197 

or sinks in a gloomy, veil-like drapery over the moun- 
tain sides. Tiie slopes of the ranges of high hills on 
the eastern side of the bay are crowded with towns, 
and villages, and vineyards, and villas, which every- 
where peep out from the dark-green foliage of the or- 
ange, citron, olive, and chestnut, which grow in such 
luxuriance along the bases of the hills and mountains, 
and upon the intervening plains and valleys. The eye 
sweeps round this shore, where Naples sits in peerless 
beauty — and takes in Portici, Resina, Torre dell' An- 
nunziata, Castellammare, and Sorento, and at the same 
time embraces a vast variety of hill and dale, and 
mountain and valley, with snowy residences, and dark 
clusters of trees in the background. Such was the pic- 
ture, very imperfectly sketched, which met the eye, as 
we came out of the port, and across the bay of Naples 
on yesterday evening. The sun was sinking low in the 
west ; and the effect of its horizontal beams upon tur- 
ret, tower, dome, and mountain, was impressive and 
sublime. Beautiful as this view was, as seen from the 
deck of the Capri, but few of the passengers enjoyed 
it ; for the wind had been blowing briskly all day from 
the sea ; and old Neptune was prompt in levying his 
tribute upon those who ventured upon his watery do- 
main ; and while the voyagers were meeting the exor- 
bitant exactions of the sea-god, the boat rounded a 
jotting promontory which cut off the view, and present- 
ly the moonlight was dancing over the troubled bosom 
of the Mediterranean, and most of the passengers were 
asleep. 

But I must drop back a little, as I have omitted to 
notice some places which I visited during my stay in 
Naples. On Sunday evening last, I visited, in company 
with my young friends, the principal cemeteries and 



198 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

burying-places, in and about the city. First we went 
to the English Protestant burying-ground, which stands 
within the limits of the city, on its northern border. 
My principal object in going here was, to pay a visit to 
the grave of Mrs. Olin, wife of the lamented Rev. 
Stephen Olin, D. D., LL. D. of the United States, who 
died in the city of Naples on the 9th May, 1889. After 
some considerable search among the many hundreds of 
tombs, I succeeded in finding the grave of this most 
estimable woman. I read her simple epitaph, plucked 
a rose-leaf from her grave, and left the quiet spot, not 
without reflections which I trust will prove profitable to 
me. What a sad thing it must have been to that great 
and good man, in his enfeebled and almost helpless con- 
dition, to commit to the earth, among strangers, in a 
foreign land, the remains of his most affectionate and 
devoted wife — the one who had attended him in all 
his travels, and watched over him, in his enfeebled 
health, like an angel of mercy ! 

•We next went to the Campo Santo Nuovo, which oc- 
cupies an elevated position, a mile or two beyond the 
northern limits of Naples. It is so laid out as to em- 
brace different departments for chapels, family vaults, 
and single graves. In the subterranean apartments of 
the chapels, many of which are large, and in a fine style 
of architecture, the dead of certain congregations in 
the city are entombed. They are congregational vaults, 
in fact, on a large scale. There are a great many of 
these chapels in this large cemetery. The family vaults 
are of different dimensions, and on different plans, as 
to expensifeness, varied by the wealth of the family. 
These are constructed with niches on the interior walls 
where the cofi&ns are deposited. The doors are gene- 
rally made of open, iron work, through which the nar- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 199 

row mansions of the lifeless tenants may be seen arrang- 
ed around the vault. Some of the single tombs are 
quite elegant. The whole is parcelled out in fine 
taste, and the cemetery embraces a large variety of sur- 
face, with suitable adornments, in the way of funereal 
trees, shrubbery, and flowers. From its more elevated 
points there are elegant views of the city and its envi- 
rons. Besides the departments already mentioned there 
is another, within the walls of a large convent which 
stands upon the grounds, which is devoted to the in- 
terment of such as are able to pay something toward 
defraying the expenses of burial, and yet not able to 
purchase a separate grave. This enclosed square has 
eighty-six deep pits, arched over, and covered at the 
mouth — which is even with the pavement — with a large 
square, flat rock. One of these is opened every three 
or four days, by means of a lever, chain, hook and staple, 
and at the close of the day, the subjects, of the class 
just mentioned, are pitched into the pit, and covered 
with quick-lime. The monks who reside in the convent 
attend to these interments. 

By the way, I have everywhere been favorably im- 
pressed with the monks, from what I have seen of them. 
They seem to be kind, intelligent, and generous. They 
are a better class of men by far, in my judgment, than 
the priests. They live alone, and apart from society, 
and perform acts of benevolence and charity. They 
are the victims of a false religion. 

From this cemetery, about sunset, we went to the 
Campo Santo Vecchio, an old cemetery of Naples. 
This is laid off like the last-mentioned department of 
the new cemetery, with three hundred and sixty-six pits, 
one of which is opened, in regular order, every day of 
the year about sunset, and kept open for several hours 



200 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

for the daily interment of the dead of the city, of the 
poorest classes, and the dead from the public hospitals. 
The bodies are brought during the day, and piled up, 
promiscuously, like so many dead dogs ; and at the close 
of the day, the pit is opened, a burial service is perform- 
ed by a resident priest, when the bodies are stripped of 
every rag of clothing, and every age, sex, and condition, 
pitched in together, with no more concern than if they 
were so many brutes. It is a sad and gloomy spectacle ! 
From the tombs I returned to my hotel filled with 
conflicting and commingled emotions. Yesterday morn- 
ing I took a drive to the king's suburban palace on Capo 
di Monte, a mile or so north of the city. It is ap- 
proached by a most splendid road, of recent construc- 
tion, that doubles and winds along the sides of the hill 
by easy gradations, ascending higher and still higher, 
until it roaches the gates of the royal grounds. The 
IDalace itself is a large, massive edifice, of immense pro- 
portions, but not particularly attractive on the exterior. 
It, of course, has a great many apartments, and, like 
all the royal palaces I have visited, has floors just about 
as smooth as glass, and more difficult to walk over than 
ice. It is painful to walk for an hour over such floors, 
where one has to be exceedingly careful to keep from slip- 
ping up. I am incapable of conceiving why the floors of 
these palaces should be made after this style. There 
are some fine paintings in this palace. Two or three 
pieces struck my uncultivated taste very favorably. 
The grounds of this palace are a mile in length, by a 
half mile in width. They are very fine. There is 
scarcely any spot that commands a finer view than is 
presented from this situation ; and I was not surprised 
to learn that it was a favorite palace with the present 
royal family. It looks down upon tlie city, with the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 201 

bay stretching beyond, until the view is nearly closed in 
by the island of Capri, that lifts its summit in bold and 
rugged outline against the sky. Posilipo sweeps round 
on the right, looking toward the sea, while Mount Ve- 
suvius stands out in all its sublime grandeur on the left ; 
and still on, and on, there is spread before the eye a 
successive range of towns and villages, with all the in- 
tervening spaces covered with the deep green foliage 
of this southern clime. 

The remainder of the morning, before leaving, was 
spent in business, and shopping, and riding about the 
streets. 

One who spends but a few days or weeks in a place, 
where he has no access to private families, and knows 
nothing of society, except as he sees it in the streets 
and public places, can form no correct estimate of the 
real state of things in private life. And yet there are 
many things which the most casual observer can not 
fail to learn, pertaining to society in general. 

In passing through Italy one is struck with the evi- 
dent fertility of the soil. Under a proper system of 
cultivation and government, it ought to be one of the 
happiest and most prosperous countries on the globe. The 
campagna alone, under proper culture, would produce 
more than enough for the support of the entire pop- 
ulation of Italy. But under a miserable policy it is 
permitted to lie waste. The strip of land between 
Capua and Naples, some twenty miles in length and 
from ten to fifteen in width, is indescribably rich. This 
land rents at from twenty to forty dollars per acre, and 
sells from four hundred to eight hundred dollars per 
acre. It is held by wealthy families residing in Naples. 
As soon as a man acquires any considerable amount of 
wealth in any of the provinces he removes to the cap- 

9* 



202 . RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ital, and purchases a farm somewhere in the neighbor- 
hood. There is great rivalry and emulation in the cul- 
tivation of these farms, and hence they are like gardens. 
The crown holds a great deal of the soil, which is cul- 
tivated by tenants for the reigning monarch. The 
people in the cities live in the streets. They work in 
the streets, eat in the streets. Children are raised in 
the streets; this is especially true of Naples. The mor- 
als of the people are evidently debased. There is, 
among the poor, out-door population but little modesty, 
and, I infer, but little virtue. The people, men and 
women, are careless of their persons, often exposing 
themselves in a way most offensive and shocking to a 
proper sense of delicacy. They are indolent. Laborers 
receive from eight to twenty cents per day, and on 
this they live and support their families. It is pro- 
verbial, however, that an Italian can live on next to 
nothing. 

But here I am still at Civita Yecchia, a mean, wretch- 
ed, and abominable place. Gasperani, the notorious 
brigand, is imprisoned here. We are getting ready to 
leave the port for Leghorn. I am glad of it. The 
evening is lovely. The temperature fine. By the way, 
I have been greatly disappointed in the climate and 
temperature of Italy. It is by no means as delightful 
as I had anticipated; and the Mediterranean, with all 
its beauties, makes people seasick. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 203 



CHAPTER Xiy. 

LEGHORN, PISA, AND FLORENCE. 

Rough Night on the Mediterranean. — Customhouse Annoyances. — 
Leghorn— LeaningTower, Cathedral, Baptistry, and Campo Santo. — 
Arrival at Florence. — Rambles through the City. — Uffizii Galleries. 
— Santa Croce. — Pitti Palace. — Gardens. — Views. — Santa Maria 
Novello. — The Duomo. — A Beautiful Sunset in Florence. 

Leghorn, April 16. — We left Civita Yecchia yester- 
day evening, with a considerable addition to our number 
of passengers, en route from Rome to Leghorn. We 
had scarcely got outside the harbor, before a large num- 
ber of the passengers showed signs of becoming seasick. 
The wind was high, and the sea very rough. The offi- 
cers of these boats plying from Marseilles to Naples, 
coast-wise, stopping a day at the intervening ports — 
namely, Genoa, Leghorn, and Civita Vecchia — always 
so manage it as to have dinner just after the boat leaves 
the port in the evening ; and it almost always so hap- 
pens that three fourths of the passengers, at least, are 
too sick to go to the table. Tliis arrangement can 
hardly be accidental. The night between Civita Yec- 
chia and Leghorn turned out to be extremely boisterous. 
The winds howled ; the vessel rolled and pitched into 
the sea ; and oh ! what scenes we had during the night. 
Seasickness was well-nigh universal. The boat was so 
crowded that the settees, chairs, and tables, were used 



204 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

as berths. Every now and then, as the boat shipped a 
sea, and made a lurch, some fellows would roll off their 
beds, and tumble on the cabin-floor ; while others were 
swinging to the sides of their berths, retching and 
vomiting, and grunting, and groaning, as though they 
were beginning " to taste the leather of their boots.''^ 
When an Italian is seasick, he makes as much noise, in 
the way of groaning and complaining, as if lie were 
stretched upon the rack, and were undergoing all the 
horrid tortures of the inquisition in their most painful 
forms. Several were aboard that night, and I shall 
never forget their lamentations and groans of anguish 
and distress. In the midst of all this sickness we had 
frequent crashes among the crockery. Whole stacks 
of plates, dishes, cups, and saucers, tumbling down at 
once ; and, in some instances, a seasick fellow tum- 
bling out among them. It reminded me of the scene 
described by " Peter Schlimel in America," as occur- 
ring at the Exchange hotel in Richmond, when the 
gong was struck for dinner, just as the young man 
pulled the bell for a waiter. He mistook the awful 
sound of the gong for the effect of his pull of the bell, 
and in his fright, exclaimed : " Great Jerusalem ! I have 
smashed all the crockery in the establishment ! !" 

We arrived in this port at six o'clock this morning, 
and were again subjected to a vexatious delay of three 
hours on board before we could go ashore. There was 
a large number of passengers, and the formalities of 
the customhouse regulations required a long time to 
admit so many into the Tuscan dominions. 

Leghorn is said to be a free port, but every trunk 

. and package is subjected to examination before it can 

pass, unless a fee of a few pauls is placed in the hands 

of the officers of examination. There is a most unprin- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 205 

cipled and villanous policy in all Italy in this regard. 
I most cordially hate and despise the mean, suspicious, 
niggardly policy of the papal, Neapolitan, and Tuscan 
governments ; but most of all, of the Tuscan. 

This is my second visit to Leghorn, and it certainly 
improves, in some respects, on acquaintance. When 
we were here before it was cold and disagreeable ; the 
streets were crowded with beggars, and everything 
looked forbidding ; but to-day the streets appear clean, 
and everything wears a more gay and cheerful aspect. 
This is a place of considerable trade, and business seems 
to wear a lively air at present. 

There are but few objects of much interest to the 
traveller here. The water-works or reservoir, the bury- 
ing-grounds, and a few shops of alabaster-work, is about 
all there is worth visiting. 

Florence, April 17. — At two o'clock on yesterday 
we left Leghorn for this city by way of Pisa. On leav- 
ing Leghorn there is a most scrutinizing examination 
of the baggage of travellers who have come from Rome 
or Naples, and every little article — such as gloves, and 
especially silks, are required to pay a heavy duty. Re- 
cently, it seems, there have been some attempts at a 
species of petty smuggling, in the way of Roman silk 
scarfs and similar articles. This has awakened suspi- 
cion, and now the traveller leaving Leghorn has to be 
subjected to detention, and vexatious examinations of 
his trunks, and even of his person, before he can pro- 
ceed on his journey. We were examined closely, and 
one of our party, who had a very thick, heavy overcoat, 
had to endure the provocation of seeing a government 
officer take a pair of scissors and split np the lining in 
its skirts, so he could put in his hands, and explore 
the whole space ])etween the lin'ng and the outer part 



206 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the coat, in search of some contraband article. It 
was all very provoking ; but we bore it in silence, and 
vrere glad to be released in time to get in the cars 
for Pisa. 

It is about an hour from Leghorn to Pisa by rail. 
Here we stopped and spent a few hours in seeing the 
world-renowned Leaning Tower — the great cathedral, 
the baptistry, and the Campo Santo — four of the highest 
objects of interest to the European traveller. The Lean- 
ing Tower exceeded all my previous expectations. It 
is a most sublime and imposing spectacle. It is built 
of white marble, in a succession of eight towers, or sto- 
ries, supported by beautiful columns, and rises to the 
height of one hundred and seventy-eight feet. It is 
round, and is fifty feet in diameter, and inclines from a 
perpendicular line, more than thirteen feet. The centre 
of gravity still falls quite within the base, and it is per- 
fectly secure ; but, to the beholder, from some points 
of observation, it actually looks as though it were nod- 
ding to its fall, and excites in the mind the most painful 
apprehensions. It was built as a campanile or bell- 
tower for the cathedral, near to which it stands, and 
still serves this purpose. There are seven bells in its top- 
most tower, one of which weighs upward of twelve thou- 
sand pounds. These bells are of remarkably fine tone, 
and may be heard at a great distance. They were rung- 
while I and my fellow-travellers were in the bell-tower, 
and sweet and harmonious as the tones are, heard at a 
greater distance, they were by no means agreeable, 
standing, as we were, in a few feet of them. The incli- 
nation of the tower has been occasioned by the sinking 
of one side of the base which is laid on a foundation of 
unequal firmness. 

I have heard some persons say that they did not realize 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 207 

their expectations in seeing the tower. I must say that 
it far exceeded, in point of sublunity, all my previous 
conceptions of it. It is a sublime spectacle. The ca- 
thedral is a magnificent structure, of immense propor- 
tions, and contains some fine pieces of sculpture and 
painting. There is one very large mosaic picture of 
Saint John, on glass, made seven hundred years ago. In 
the interior of this old cathedral there is a great num- 
ber and variety of columns ; some of them of very fine 
marble, and in a high order of execution. The bronze 
doors, three in number, are of exquisite workmanship, 
and magnificent design. The baptistry is a rotunda, of 
grand dimensions, crowned witli a sublime dome, and is 
altogether superior to anything of the sort which I have 
yet seen. It is now undergoing repairs. The font is 
of a decagonal form, and each face is ornamented with 
a piece of delicate flowerwork in Parian marble, most 
exquisitely wrought. The pillars are in the G-recian 
style of elegant workmanship. Here all the baptisms 
of the cathedral are performed. 

The Campo Santo, near at hand, is also an object of 
great interest. This is a celebrated cemetery, which 
has given its name to every similar place of interment 
throughout Italy. The line of railroad from Pisa to 
Florence is mostly along the valley of the Arno, a stream 
which passes directly through both Florence and Pisa. 
The country appears to be in a fine state of cultivation, 
and abounds in vineyards. 

Pisa is a city of twenty-two thousand inhabitants. 
It is an old place, but it presents a pleasant appearance, 
and seems to be a stirring, prosperous city. The Arno 
runs through the city, spanned by several bridges, and 
the whole of the country surrounding the place is cov- 
ered with vineyards. Pisa is one of the localities that 



208 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

amply repays a visit, and it is one of the few places 
where I got more than I bargained for. I saw more, 
and was much better pleased with what I saw, than I 
had previously anticipated. Then again, all the princi- 
pal objects of interest are within a stone's throw of each 
other. All may be well seen in two hours. 

We arrived here at eight o'clock last night. After 
some difficulty we obtained lodgings at the Hotel d'ltali, 
where I am writing this morning. The Arno passes 
through this city, and our room, in the hotel, is just over 
the brink of the stream. 

Florence, April 17. — Beautiful, and lovely Florence ! 
For many years I have desired to see this city. It has 
long dwelt in my mind like some scene of enchantment — 
like some sweet and delightful vision ; and now I am 
here in the midst of it. It every way equals my expec- 
tations. To-day I have wandered through its streets ; 
dropped into its shops of sculpture and painting ; sur- 
veyed its palaces ; lingered in the aisles of its churches, 
and paused upon the beautiful bridges that span the 
Arno which flows through the heart of the city, reflect- 
ing from its bosom, the domes, turrets, towers, and bat- 
tlements, that crowd upon its margin. I spent several 
hours in the galleries of the Af&zii, a building of grand 
dimensions, occupying a position adjoining the Piazza 
del Gran' Duca, erected by Cosmo I. 

It would be useless to attempt a description of the 
statuary and paintings congregated in this magnificent 
collection of works from the hands of the finest artists 
the world has ever known. In the apartment, occupy- 
ing a central position on the left of the east corridor, 
called the tribune, is assembled a few choice pieces of 
sculpture, which are said to be unsurpassed by anything 
in the world. Here we find the famous " Yenus de' 



I 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 209 

Medici," " the Apollino," " the Dancing Faun," " the 
Knife-Grinder," and a group — " the Wrestlers." 

The bronze statues in another apartment, are very 
fine, and can not fail to interest the visiter. There are 
paintings in these vast halls by Rubens, Raphael, Van- 
dyke, and other great masters. Many of these are 
mentioned with discrimination by J. R. Thompson, 
Esq.,* a late tourist, and also by Hillard in his '^ Six 
Months in Italy." 

This afternoon late, we visited an old church called 
Santa Croce, not attractive on the exterior, nor par- 
ticularly fine and elegant within, so far as mere adorn- 
ments and decorations are concerned, and yet it is in- 
tensely interesting as the place of the entombment 
and monumental commemoration of men whose names 
stand indissolubly associated with science, literature, 
and the fine arts. It has been called, and not inap- 
propriately, the ''Westminster Abbey" and the "Pan- 
theon" of Florence. 

In this church are the tombs and monuments of 
Michael Angelo, the sculptor and architect ; Buona- 
rotti, the antiquarian ; Micheli, the botanist ; Alfieri, 
the poet, and of Machiavelli, Leonardo Bruni, and 
Galileo. Tablets and monumental busts commemo- 
rate the names of Dante, Petrarch, and others who 
have enriched Italian literature. I lingered long in 
this old church. The shades of evening were ma- 
king the aisles dark, and gloomy. A few candles burn- 
ed dimly on the distant altars, while the chime of the 
bells on the lofty tower of the church rang mournfully 
through the silent, solemn arches of the vast old pile. 

Biit it is now midnight. The lulling murmur of the 

* Mr. Thompson's work, " Across the Atlantic," was in pi'int, but 
the whole edition, with the stereotype plates was consumed by fire. 



210 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Anio steals into my room. The din and bustle of the 
city are hushed into an echo. 

April 18. — To-day I have spent several hours in the 
galleries, private apartments, and gardens of the Pitti 
palace. The paintings in these spacious halls are re- 
garded as very superior. Some of them struck me with 
force, as being of a high order of execution ; the great 
majority, however, appeared to my eye, like many others 
which I have seen. Where there is such a large num- 
ber of paintings as one finds in the Ufifizii and in the 
Pitti palace galleries, it is impossible to examine them 
all, or even any considerable number of them, with any 
degree of care ; and, indeed, about all I know of a 
painting is, whether it strikes me or not ; and I must 
confess that I often pass by, with only a casual look, 
and without being particularly impressed, with paint- 
ings that have excited a good deal of interest among 
the critics and connoisseurs in the art. And, again, in 
compliment to myself, I must say, that, on entering an 
apartment of a gallery, those portraits or landscapes 
or historical scenes which have arrested me, and which 
I, at once, pronounced good, have generally turned out 
to be the productions of such artists as Raphael, Titian, 
Guido, Domenichino, and other great masters. I have 
been struck, often, with the productions of these great 
masters, without knowing why. There is a number of 
painting's in the Pitti palace by Raphael, Titian, Dom- 
enichino, and Guido. 

I was particularly well pleased with the private 
apartments of the palace. The grand duke and fam- 
ily are now absent on a visit to Naples, and visiters are 
admitted to all the private apartments of this splendid 
abode of royalty — one of the most magnificent in the 
world. I, and the party with me, under the direction of 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 211 

the porter, were admitted to the bed-chambers and 
private dressing-rooms of tlie royal family, and shown 
through the apartments fitted up for the accommodation 
of distinguished visiters. The furniture is of the most 
elegant and costly kind. In some of the rooms there 
are small cabinets, that must have cost hundreds of 
thousands of dollars. They are inlaid with most 
precious stones — such as carnelian, 'agate, emerald, 
lapis-lazuli, sardonyx, and malachite. The walls of 
the different apartments are covered with silk tapestries 
of the most elegant texture, and each apartment has a 
different color. The carpets yield beneath the feet 
like velvet cushions. The bedsteads are plated with 
gold, and curtained with the most costly and elegant 
silk, and the beds are draped with the same material. 

The gardens attached to the palace are laid out 
upon a most splendid scale, and are scarcely surpassed 
by anything in Europe. The shrubbery and trees are 
trimmed into walls and walks, while everywhere the 
statuary and small buildings scattered over the grounds 
gleam out amid the dark, green foliage of the over- 
shadowing trees. There is great variety of surface, 
and no amount of means has been spared to render 
these grounds the most attractive in the world. Some 
of the finest views of Florence and the surrounding 
country are obtained from these gardens ; and certainly 
Europe can not boast of a more handsomely situated 
city than this jewel on the banks of the Arno. 

The mountains around Florence are most beautifully 
grouped. They are of different height, form, and pro- 
file, presenting just those combinations of figure, and 
those lines and curves, which constitute the highest 
beauty in landscape-gardening. Westward of the city 
there is an undulating plain of considerable extent, 



212 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

reaching to the foot of the mountains, which, seen from 
the gardens of the Pitti palace, seems to be covered 
with villas and handsome country residences. On the 
north the mountains make a nearer approach to the 
city, retreating again on the south and east. The Ar- 
no, a picturesque stream with a pretty name, comes 
down from the Apennines, winding and doubling among 
the hills and sweeps right through the heart of Florence, 
dividing it into nearly two equal parts. 

This afternoon we have visited several churches. 
Santa Maria Novello, is one of the oldest churches in 
the city, and well repays a visit. 

It is also a sort of Westminster Abbey. It contains 
many tombs. Adjoining it. are the cloisters of an ex- 
tensive convent, connected with which is a large labor- 
atory, and an extensive manufactory of medicines, per- 
fumes, cosmetics, and various things in that way. 

From the Santa Maria Novello, I next went to the 
Duomo, or great cathedral of Florence. This is a 
grand and magnificent edifice. Its whole history is full 
of interest. The length is four hundred and fifty-four 
feet ; width of transept three hundred and thirty-seven 
feet ; diameter of dome one hundred and thirty-three 
feet ; height from pavement to the summit of the cross 
three hundred and eighty-seven feet. I remained in 
this noble cathedral, beneath the overshadowing sweep 
of the dome, till it grew dark, and I was admonished 
to retire. A small congregation of worshippers were 
in the south end of the transept, engaged in vespers, 
while the sound of their voices produced a strange 
reverberating response in the arches and dome. I felt 
solemn, and deeply impressed by the house — the ar- 
chitectural grandeur — by the tumultuous sounds pro- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 213 

ducecl ill tlic dome by the worshippers — by the hour — 
by the sombre, solemn gloom of the church. 

A lofty square campanile stands near the Duomo, 
the outer walls of which are faced with white marble ; 
and just across the street, in front of the cathedral 
stands the baptistry, the bronze gates of which, some- 
body has said were fine enough to be the gates of 
Paradise. They are, beyond any doubt, in point of 
design and workmanship unsurpassed by anything of 
the sort in existence. The baptistry itself is an im- 
posing structure. 

On my return to the hotel, emerging from a nar- 
row street into the broad open strada on the banks of 
the Arno, a resplendent scene suddenly burst upon me. 
The whole western sky was bathed in the richest colors 
of sunset, while the horizon still glowed with bur- 
nished gold. The Arno rolled on, reflecting the beau- 
tifully-variegated tints of the cloudless heavens on its 
bosom. The blue rim of the distant mountains was dis- 
tinctly marked on the utmost verge of the landscape, 
and a thin veil of gold and silver-threaded tissue fell 
on the less remote hills and intervening valleys. A 
gay and brilliant tide of human beings, in flashing car- 
riages, with prancing steeds, or leisurely strolling on 
foot, moved along the banks of the dimpled stream. 
Oh! it was a glorious view — a splendid picture. I 
love these clear, rich glowing sunsets in Italy. I saw 
them in Rome ; I saw them in Naples, and upon the 
Mediterranean ; but the sunset, this evening, in Flo- 
rence, eclipsed them all. 



214 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XV. 

FLORENCE. 

A drive to Fiesole. — Splendid View. — Return to the City. — Muse- 
um. — Galileo's Temple. — Powers' Studio. — Mr. Powers and his 
Works. — Mr. Hart's Studio. — His Sculptometer. — Mr. Barbee's 
Studio. — His Fisher-Girl. — Sunday in Florence. — Churches. — 
Episcopal Church Service. — An Incident. — The Cascine. — Church 
of San Lorenzo. — Michael Angelo's Statuary. — His Genius. — 
The Medician Chapel. — Florentine Mosaic Manufactory. — Lauren- 
tian Library. — Academy of Fine Arts. — Visit to the Cathedral. — 
Preparations to leave Florence. 

Florence, April 19. — This day has been closely oc- 
cupied, and it would be impossible, in my limited time, 
to write out any detailed and accurate account of what 
I have seen. 

At an early hour we drove to Fiesole, a village that 
stands on a mountain summit, about three miles from 
Florence, the highest point of the mountain being crown- 
ed with a monastery, and from which, as I verily believe, 
the finest view, altogether, of the sort, is obtained, that 
can be enjoyed in the world. This sounds extravagant ; 
and writers in describing the views and scenes presented 
in foreign travel, get so much in the habit of employing 
superlatives that it is well adapted to excite some dis- 
trust as to the degree of reliance to be placed in these 
descriptions. But I really doubt whether any parallel, 
in the way of a grand, all-comprehending, panoramic 
view, can be found on the globe, to that presented 
from the monastery of Fiesole. There are points froui 
which finer mountain views may be enjoyed ; there are 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 215 

also points from which larger and more magnificent 
cities than Florence may be taken in at a single view ; 
tliere are larger and finer streams than the Arno, and 
other parts of Italy furnish as fine orchards, and vine- 
yards, and single villas ; but no one view, anywhere 
else, combines as many elements of the grand, pictu- 
resque, and beautiful, as that taken in from Fiesole. So 
at least, it struck me this morning, as I leaned from the 
windows of the monastery, and stood upon the rocky 
points that stand out prominently around the highest 
summit of the hill on which the monastery is situated. 
Florence, with its lofty towers, its swelling domes, and 
splendid palaces, lies almost directly under the eye, 
with the intervening steeps, up which the road ascends 
by a circuitous zigzag route, covered with olive-or 
chards, elegant villas, and tasteful Italian cottages. — 
Beyond the city the mountains rise up in graceful 
curves, and form beautiful points of elevation on which 
are situated the most enchanting residences of private 
families, surrounded by inviting and lovely grounds. To 
the west of the city the plain extends a mile or so, and 
then the mountains swell up in every variety of form 
and stretch away in all directions, until the indistinct 
outline of their blue summits blend in with the azure 
vault of the sky, where its rim touches the earth. And 
on this plain, and upon these mountain slopes, there are 
actually many thousands of the most elegant villas and 
private country residences. These were shining, this 
morning, in the glorious bursts of sunlight, lik'e snow- 
drifts lingering on the mountains, and dissolving in a 
warm April sun. To the east of the city the view was 
bounded by the mountains that approach to a nearer 
point than on the west. The whole of this immense 
panorama is dotted with clumps of trees of a dark, glossy 



216 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

foliage, while, amid dl, tlie yellow waters of the Arno 
may be traced for many miles, winding through the 
whole extent of this diversified, view. But I can not 
describe it. It must be seen, as I saw it this morning, 
in the unclouded sunlight, through a bright, clear at- 
mosphere, and amidst the opening foliage and bursting 
blossoms of early spring, to be appreciated. 

The road by which Fiesole is now approached is com- 
paratively new, and an elegant road it is. It lies upon 
the sides of the mountain like a beautiful parapet, ex- 
cavated in the face of the rocky steeps, and walled up 
on the lower side, doubling and winding along by easy 
gradations, until it reaches the summit. 

In walking about Fiesole, first to the old church, and 
then to the monastery of Franciscan monks, wc were 
greatly importuned by a crowd of girls and women to 
purchase little bunches of Tuscan trimming, woven of 
straw. It was neat and tasteful, and offered on very 
moderate terms, but we had no use for it, and declined 
buying. But we paid some of them small sums for show- 
ing us how it was woven. This they did with readiness. 
It was really amazing to see how rapidly they could 
transform the straw into the tasteful, delicate, and 
beautiful figures which it assumed under their fingers. 

There are the remains of an old Cyclopean wall still 
visible on the hill-sides near the little town. This place 
is not without its historical interest. 

From Fiesole we descended by another road, passing 
the villa of the grand duchess, and entered the city at 
another gate, and drove to the royal museum, called 
the Museo di Storia Naturale, near the Pitti palace. 
This museum resulted, in the first instance from the 
pursuits of the Grand Ducal Medici, several of whom 
encouraged experimental science. It contains the finest 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 217 

mineralogical, geological, fossiliferons, and ornithologi- 
cal specimens, perhaps, in the world. The anatomical 
and physiological departments are deeply interesting 
and instructive. Adjoining the museum is the Tribune, 
or temple, erected by the present grand duke to Galileo, 
in which many interesting objects, connected with the 
life, pursuits, and discoveries of the great Tuscan phi- 
losopher, are congregated: such as the telescope of 
Galileo through which he made his astronomical dis- 
coveries, his quadrant, and other mathematical instru- 
ments. There is also a series of fine paintings on the 
walls, illustrative of the history of Galileo, and a num- 
ber of the busts of his distinguished pupils and patrons. 
The hall itself is elegant. The walls are inlaid with 
marble and jasper, and the paintings are executed in 
fine style. The whole, cost about one hundred and sev- 
enty-five thousand dollars, exclusive of the manuscripts 
of Galileo and his pupils, which the present grand 
duke has collected with a princely liberality, at any 
price, wherever they could be found. 

The remainder of the day was devoted to the private 
studios of the American sculptors in Florence. First we 
went to Powers' studio. This great sculptor has a world- 
wide reputation. He is a native of Vermont, and has 
now been nineteen years in Florence. He has reared a 
large and interesting family here, and still looks forward 
to four or five years residence in Florence before he re- 
turns to his native land, to enjoy the fame and whatever 
of fortune he may have acquired by the productions of 
his rare genius. As a sculptor he has no living rival 
in some respects. His Greek slave alone has gained for 
him an imperishable fame. He is now employed, al- 
most exclusively, in filling orders from America, and 
hence his studio does not present the large assemblage 



218 RANDOM SKETCHES AxN'D 

of jjieces, such as are found in the studios of native 
artists in Rome, who repeat copies of fine pieces, merely 
for sale, as a shopkeeper manufactures his wares. 
Powers has just completed a piece, representing Ameri- 
ca, under the image of a majestic and beautiful female, 
standing in an easy and graceful attitude, with one hand 
resting on the symbol of union and strength, and the 
other pointing to heaven, with the face and eyes eleva- 
ted, following the direction of the uplifted hand. The 
figure is nearly nude, and presents one of the finest 
specimens of a perfectly-developed human form that can 
easily be conceived of. It is intended for our govern- 
ment. He is also at work on a statue of Washington, 
and some other pieces, intended for private individuals 
and for public institutions. 

Our country has a right to be proud of Powers. He 
is a fine-looking man, with a superb head, and a splen- 
did eye; and is, withal, a most accommodating and 
polite gentleman. He has abandoned the custom, 
which has liitherto been universal, of making his mod- 
els, first in clay from which the casts are taken in 
plaster, and from which the marble is copied. He now 
makes his models out of plaster, and by means of an 
instrument of his own invention, and which no other 
sculptor uses, he fashions the plaster at once into tlie 
cast, or model. Plaster can not be worked with the 
chisel and mallet, as it chips under this operation ; nor 
can it be wrought with ordinary files or rasps, as these 
clog and become useless. These impediments have been 
overcome by the invention of an open file, which allows 
the particles to escape without clogging ; and with this 
ingenious contrivance the models can now be made, 
mthout the tedious process of easting from clay. 

We next visited the studio of Mr. Hart of Kentucky, 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 219 

who is engaged on a statue of Henry Clay, for an as- 
sociation of ladies in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Hart, 
also, promises to rise to very high distinction as a 
sculptor. He has recently perfected an invention, which 
somebody has suggested should be called a sculpto- 
metcr, the design of which is to take, with absolute 
certainty, the exact physical proportions of his subjects. 
The invention is exceedingly ingenious, and must great- 
ly contribute to exactitude — to a sort of mathematical 
certainty in taking the relative proportions of living 
subjects. It is a complex piece of machinery, and is 
one of the most perfect things, of the sort that the 
inventive genius* of man can contrive. I know not 
how to describe it. But it is an instrument by which 
the artist can, in a few minutes, fix all the distances, 
proportions, and attitudes of his subject, and retain 
them, subject to exact measurement. This invention 
aids very much in taking drapery, as well as figure, 
feature, form, and the thousands of other incidents that 
make up the lifelike piece of statuary. It, however, 
I will venture to say, renders the art a little too me- 
chanicaL 

We next went to the studio of Mr. Barbee of Vir- 
ginia. He is a young artist and has been only eighteen 
months in Florence. He promises to rise to high dis- 
tinction in his profession. He has one piece nearly 
completed which he styles the Coquette. It will be, 
when completed, a fine original. But he has just com- 
pleted an original model, of what he calls the '^ Fisher 
Girl,^^ that to my eye is, without doubt, the most per- 
fect and beautiful thing I have ever seen. Such a rep- 
resentation of a human being, in anything short of 
actual, living, breathing mortality I had never conceived 
of in the remotest degree. It is absolutely perfect. 



220 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

There can be uotliing beyond it. Mr. Barbce holds the 
idea, that the most perfect develo}3ments of the human 
form, are to be found in the humbler walks of life, and 
he has embodied his conceptions in a young female, just 
at the full development of early womanhood, in the 
character of a fisher girl, sitting upon the sandy beach, 
with shells and pebbles around her, engaged in mend- 
ing her net. This model so enchanted me, that I could 
scarcely tear myself from it, and as I write to-night it 
lingers in my mind, like the beautiful shadowings of 
some angelic form that has visited me in a dream. The 
well-turned limbs ; the modest position and attitude ; 
the braided hair, and wreath of shells around the fore- 
head ; the sweet and lovely expression of that face ; 
the curve of tliat neck, and the unity, beauty, and per- 
fection of the whole figure, have impressed me, as I 
have never been impressed by any other representation 
of a human being in painting or statuary. 

April 21. — Yesterday (Sunday) I visited several 
churches, heard some sublime music in the great Duomo, 
or cathedral, dropped into the church of the Annunci- 
ation, a fine church, and heard a repetition of the ser- 
vice connected with the celebration of the mass ; saw 
Catholics kneeling, according to the universal custom 
in this country, upon the naked marble pavement, mut- 
tering their prayers, and counting their rosary; saw 
the priests transforming the wafer and wine into the 
real body, flesh, blood, bones, and divinity of Jesus 
Christ 1 Growing weary, and becoming profoundly 
disgusted with the tedious forms of a religious worship, 
which is so devoid of that true spirituality which vital- 
izes that which is external in our approaches to the 
Great and Invisible Spirit, I turned away, and sought 
the English chapel, where the service of the church of 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN T HAVEL. 221 

England is regularly held on the Sabbath, for the bene- 
fit of English residents, and for the travelling public, 
who feel disposed to attend Protestant worship. Here 
I found a neat and commodious church or place of 
worship, and by paying two pauls I was allowed to 
enter, and was supplied with a seat. The congregation 
was large and presented a fine appearance. We had 
a good sermon in behalf of the church missionary 
society, and a respectable collection was taken in aid 
of its funds. 

By some carelessness, a young man who sat near me 
upset the plate in which tlie contributions were receiv- 
ed, and the pieces of silver had a perfect frolic of it, 
chasing one another over the floor. This way of paying 
for a seat at the door, as a condition of admittance, 
was rather a novelty to me. The person wlio issued 
the tickets was a lady, who sat at a table near the door, 
like a money-changer and ticket-officer at a concert 
or show, received the change, then sent the person off, 
under the guidance of an official to be seated in the 
church. Perhaps this is the only method by which 
Protestant worship can be sustained in Florence. The 
same plan is pursued in Naples. Some persons com- 
plain of it, and say they would prefer making voluntary 
contributions for this object, as is the custom at Genoa, 
and at the chapel in Mr. Cass' house at Rome. I think 
the door should be free, at least on those occasions 
when public collections are to be taken for the benevo- 
lent enterprises of the church. 

In the afternoon of the Sabbath, the fashion, gayety, 
wit, and beauty of Florence, congregate on the Cas- 
cine, a beautiful and delightful ground and promenade, 
lying without the city-walls, along the banks of the 
Arno, and extending for nearly two miles upon the 



222 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

banks of the river. At a central point, near the royal 
dairy, a splendid brass band performs, in the finest style 
of music, for an hour or so for the enjoyment of the 
numerous visiters who assemble on this attractive and 
lovely spot. The elite of the city, in their elegant 
carriages, attended by footmen and drivers in livery, the 
sober-sided Scotch and English visiters, and the gay, 
cheerful, and finely-attired Americans temporarily so- 
journing in Florence, assemble here, by the thousand, 
and present about the most brilliant and imposing 
crowd that is to be seen at any one place, in the route 
of European travel. 

The drive around the Cascine, at any time, is delight- 
ful. The whole of the grounds are a dead level, but 
the roads are so fine ; the shade trees are so beautiful, 
extending their long branches in sylvan arches over- 
head ; the paths winding through the deep forests ; the 
arbors and bowers, overrun with vines and flowers, 
together with the scattered buildings, in the form of 
cafes, summerhouses, etc., which skirt the way, make 
it perfectly enchanting. 

This morning I spent some time in the chapels, li- 
brary, and cloisters, attached to the church of San 
Lorenzo. This is the most attractive and interesting 
public edifice, after the cathedral, to be found in Flor- 
ence. The church itself, so far as the exterior is con- 
cerned, is a rough, uncouth, ugly pile of bricks and 
mortar, without a solitary feature to attract attention. 
Indeed, there is nothing in the interior of the church 
itself that is particularly interesting. There are two 
bronLe pulpits, with bas-reliefs, and some paintings, 
about which the guide-books have a good deal to say ; 
but I saw nothing specially striking about them. The 
great objects of absorbing interest here, are the two 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 22b 

chapels — the Sagrcstia nnova or Capella dei depositi, 
and the Medicean Chapel. The first-named was plan- 
ned and built by Michael Angelo, and contains his 
statue of Lorenzo, with the figures reclining at his feet, 
intended to represent Night and Morning ; and his 
statue of Giuliano de Medici, attended by the allegorical 
figures of Day and Night, about which so much has been 
said, and which have received such unqualified and un- 
bounded praise. But I must frankly confess that I could 
not see so much to admire in these pieces of statuary. 
They are bold, strong figures, to be sure, like all this 
great master's productions ; but there is not the first line 
of beauty about them. Most of the pieces which I have 
seen by Michael Angelo are monsters^ not true repre- 
sentations of the human figure and " face divine." 
The muscular system is too strongly developed. There 
is a rigidity and strained appearance that is painful to 
the eye. His statuary excites something of awe, and 
never fails to impress the mind, but never excites the 
pleasing emotions which arise from the contemplation 
of the beautiful. His Moses, in the church of '• Saint 
Peter in chains," at Rome is bold, strong, impressive ; 
it really has the brow of Jove, and seems to threaten 
to smite the beholder with a thunderbolt ; but the cor- 
rugated, knotted, rigid, strained appearance of the 
muscles struck me there, as in the pieces in the Sagrestia 
nuova to-day. But I am no judge of these things, and 
therefore hazard nothing in freely expressing my own 
opinion. To this I am as much entitled, to say the 
least, as if I were a critic in the art. But for myself, 
I had rather see the clay model, of Barbee's " Fisher 
Girl," than to see the pieces so much lauded, by 
Michael Angelo, in the chapel of the San Lorenzo, 
which I visited this morning. 



224 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

The chapel itself, which was planned by Michael 
Angelo, is superb. Here he was at home. In archi- 
tecture he had no rival. His mind grasped great 
designs and vast proportions ; and if there had been a 
dome to build like the cope of heaven, and a mountain 
like Mont Blanc to be formed into a statue, Michael 
Angelo was the man for that work. His mind was too 
stupendous, too mighty and massive, to produce the 
nice, delicate touches, which bring out a Psyche, a 
Venus de Medici, or an Apollo Belvidere, from a block 
of marble. But his was the bold hand to strike out a 
Moses for the top of a lofty monumental pile, or to 
rear an edifice to shelter the world and reach to heaven. 

The Medicean Chapel^ connected with the San Lo- 
renzo, is the most superb and costly thing of the sort on 
earth. It is too fine — too rich — too costly! It 
overleaps all the bounds ordinarily set to a chaste and 
refined taste, and actually paralyzes all the conceptions 
of magnificence, splendor, and wealth of decoration, 
that are common to even the most cultivated minds. 

In form this chapel is an octagon, with a high, soar- 
ing, dome-like cupola. It contains the armorial bear- 
ings and cenotaphs of the Medici family. Upon these 
are lavished, in boundless profusion, chalcedony, lapis- 
lazuli, agate, mother-of-pearl, jasper, turquoise, coral, 
carnelian, malachite, and topaz, all wrought into the 
inner facings of the walls, in the most gorgeous and 
expensive style of decoration. It is useless to attempt 
a description of this chapel. The interior of the roof 
is covered with frescoes, which are finely executed. 

Adjoining this church there is the Laurentian Li- 
brary, in which are some of the oldest and most valua- 
ble manuscripts in existence. In one room there are 
one hundred tlionsand volumes of manuscripts ! 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL . iJ'JO 

We visited also, to-day, the government manufactory 
of Florentine mosaics. The process is tedious and 
hurtful to health. The workmen who reach sixty 
years of age in this service, then retire on a pension 
from the government. Pieces of work are wrought 
here in the form of tables, cabinets, and pictures, that 
are estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Leaving the mosiac manufactory we dropped in for a 
while at the Academy of Fine Arts. Not particularly 
interesting to me. 

April 23. — This evening I and my party made a 
farewell visit to the cathedral. As usual we ascended 
to the highest point. The view from the top of the 
dome is sublime. It commands the whole of Florence, 
and the surrounding country as far as the mountain bar- 
riers which engirdle it will allow the eye to i-ange. 

We have completed our arrangements to leave for 
Bologna to-morrow morning. Our party, together with 
our highly-esteemed compagnons de voyageur^ Mr. and 
Mrs. Guild, have engaged a whole diligence to take us 
hence to ITologna in one day. Dr. Nichols and his 
party, with whom we have been much in company on 
the continent, left this morning in a private carriage, 
preferring this mode of conveyance to the public dili- 
gence Our main point of destination ahead is Venice. 

10* 



226 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FROM FLORENCE TO VENICE. 

Departure from Florence. — Diligence Travelling. — Crossing the Ap- 
ennines. — Arrival at Bologna. — A Day in Bologna. — Churches. 
— University. — Physiological Museum. — Leaning Towers of 
Bologna. — Revolutionary Spirit. — Morals of the City. — Blind 
Musicians. — A Sweet and Lovely Evening. 

Bologna, April 24. — I and my party left Florence 

— beautiful Florence — on yesterday morning, by dili- 
gence for this place. The reader has heard mucli 
about diligence travelling — suffer me to express my 
opinion on the subject. With a seat on the top, which 
enables the traveller to see the face of the country, I 
can scarcely think of a more agreeable mode of trav- 
elling. It is quite as pleasant as the mail-coach 
travelling in our own country, which many persons 
prefer to railroad or steamboat. It is true, the horses 
are tackled on with rope traces, and other apparently 
superfluous appendages ; the postillions wear a monkey- 
ish uniform, and sometimes oxen are attached to the 
diligence to help up hill ; but after all the travelling is 
rapid, and, I think, very pleasant. On leaving Flor- 
ence we had six horses attached to our diligence, with 
three mounted postillions — one for each pair of horses 

— and a courier or conductor, who occupied the seat 
usually occupied by the driver, whose business it was 
to manage the brakes^ and exercise a general super- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 227 

vision over the postillions, and the whole conduct of 
the journey. Here then were four men employed in 
doing what one person does with perfect ease " in 
America. 

Directly after leaving the gates of Florence we 
i)egan to ascend the Apennines. We left a summer 
land behind us, and in a few hours we were in a wintry 
clime. The road was well graded, but in the steeper 
parts it was necessary to add two gray oxen to our 
full complement of horses. We tugged on and up ; 
higher and still higher. The olives and vineyards 
gradually disappeared on the mountain-sides. The 
wind became cold and penetrating. We drew on over- 
coats, and cloaks, and finally spread blankets across 
our knees to keep us comfortable ; and still upward we 
wound our way, until at one o'clock — having started 
at seven in the morning — we had reached the highest 
point of the Apennines between Florence and Bologna ; 
from which, on a clear day, the waters of the Mediterra- 
nean and the Adriatic may be seen at the same time. 
The elevation is very great. . All signs of vegetation 
disappeared. There was not a bursting bud or ex- 
panding flower anywhere to greet the eye, as it wan- 
dered over the bare summits, and rugged peaks of the 
wild mountain ranges that stretched around on every 
side. 

We continued for two or three hours in this elevated, 
wintry region, and then began to descend to the beauti- 
ful plain that runs up to the northern base of the moun- 
tains, extending westward to Milan, and northward be- 
yond Padua and Venice. About four o'clock we passed 
out of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany into the Papal 
States. Here our passports were again examined, and 
our trunks overhauled. It must try the patience of a 



228 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

lady to see her trunk ransacked, and piece after piece 
of lier apparel examined ; boxes opened and bundles 
unrolled, and the whole of the contents thrown into 
confusion. But it must be borne. There is nothing to 
be gained by uttering a word. The old adage, " The 
least said is easiest mended," holds good here. A few 
pauls slipped into the hand, however, has a wonderful 
effect. Everything is smoothed down in a moment, and 
the trunk passed without disturbance or detention. 

It had rained most of the time we were upon the 
highest parts of the mountains. In the afternoon, as 
the evening drew on, it cleared away, and the most gor- 
geous and glorious scenery was unrolled before us, as 
the clouds melted into thin air and the sun came out, 
that can easily be conceived of. Boundless chains of 
mountains broke away, far as the eye could follow them. 
Beautiful valleys, in a high state of cultivation, smiled 
in quiet loveliness beneath us ; wdiile the great plain, 
reaching to the Po, and away beyond over all Lombar- 
dy, was dimly seen in the gushes of evening sunlight 
that blazed from the broad, rounded disk of the uncloud- 
ed day-god, as he vf heeled away over the Apennines. 
Then the hues of the mountains were so enchanting ! 
Every shade of blue and purple was spread upon the 
rounded tops, irregular sides, and rocky peaks of these 
endlessly-diversified mountain ranges. At sunset we 
were upon the plain, on the banks of the Savena, and 
only eight or ten miles distant from Bologna, and were 
again surrounded with foliage, and blossoms, and flow- 
ering shrubbery, and all the attendants on the full de- 
velopment of spring. The Apennines occupy about 
sixty miles of the seventy, between Florence and Bolog- 
na. And every foot of that way presents the most pic- 
turesque and sublime scenery imaginable. There is 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. • 229 

endless variety in the mountain-peaks and valleys, the 
whole presenting the appearance of the ocean, wrought 
into a tempest, and the wild, tumultuous billows sud- 
denly arrested and standing, as firm as granite, in all 
the conceivable forms and relations, that the multitu- 
dinous waves bear to each other when the sea is high, on 
the subsidence of the storm. But this does not reach 
the idea. We do not have a succession of parallel rows 
of mountains, nor of long, continuous ranges, but of 
isolated peaks, towering up on every hand in rocky 
battlements ; and of graceful, rounded summits, smooth 
and bare, with deep and frightful chasms opening be- 
tween. In the sunlight these thousands of higher points 
assume all colors and hues, and so interest the traveller, 
that the day passes without fatigue and with no note 
of the lapse of time. 

There are characteristic differences between these 
mountains and the mountains of our own country. 
First, in that they are perfectly bare of forests. In a 
distance of sixty miles, scarcely a single clump of trees 
of original growth is to be seen in the higher ranges, that 
would cover an acre of ground. Secondly, in that the 
valleys, and every inch of arable soil up the mountain- 
sides, is under high cultivation : vineyards in the 
deeper valleys, and olive orchards on the lower moun- 
tain ranges, and wheat and other crops of grain from 
base to summit, wherever a seed can take root. Third- 
ly, in the peculiarity, before alluded to, namely, that 
the mountains are not in long, continuous ranges, pre- 
senting an evenness of outline in the more elevated sum- 
mits, but broken into an endless number of separate 
mountains, all forming one great mountain chain ; and 
finally, in that the roads are far superior to anything to 
bo found, for the same distance in America. The en- 



230 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

gineering is not so good as that between Rome and Na- 
ples, but the road is splendid. 

It was dark when we arrived in this city. We first 
saw it by gas-light, and it made such a favorable im- 
pression upon us, that we at once determined to give it 
a day. We took lodgings at the San Marco, a fine 
hotel, where we might have enjoyed Bologna sausage to 
any extent. This article is very abundant here. In 
eating it, one acts wisely, I think, to observe the scrip- 
ture injunction, '' ask no questions," especially in rela- 
tion to what the sausage is made of. If the question 
were answered by any other than a Bolognese, it might 
have a tendency to produce something like seasick- 
ness, and the same results might follow. 

Bologna, April 25. — This day has been occupied in 
visiting the principal places of interest to the traveller 
in Bologna. The oity itself far surpasses my previous 
expectations. It has a population of more than seventy 
thousand, is about two miles in length, and one mile in 
width. It is surrounded by a brick wall, and is sit- 
uated on a level space of land, just bordering the base 
of the Apennines, wdiich w^e descended on yesterday 
evening, on our approach to the city. The walls of the 
city are washed by the Savena, a small mountain stream, 
on the borders of which the road running hence to 
Florence lies for some eight or ten miles beyond the 
city-gates. The streets of the city are well paved, and 
present a neat and cleanly appearance. The arcades 
which line the streets on both sides, forming continuous 
ranges of shelter for foot-passengers from the sun and 
weather, present an agreeable appearance to the eye. 
These arcades are spanned above by a succession of 
arches, reaching from column to column, and their upper 
ceiling forms the floors of the apartments of the elegant 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 23l 

mansions above them, the arcades being sufficiently 
wide to admit of rooms of ample proportion, corre- 
sponding with their wddth. Bologna is w^orthy of men- 
tion on other accounts than from the celebrity "which it 
has gained for its sausages and its clogs. It is a city 
of great splendor and wealth, and has some exceedingly 
interesting objects to the traveller. Its public picture 
gallery, its university, its leaning towers, and many of 
its churches, are well worth visiting. 

The picture gallery contains a number of fine paint- 
ings by Guido, Carracci, Correggio, Domenichino, Ra- 
phael, and other distinguished artists. The great ma- 
jority of the numerous pictures are in a good style of 
execution ; and many of them, if I may take the opin- 
ions of others who are better judges than myself, are 
very superior ; but not being of that class of subjects, 
scenes, and representations, which most please and inter- 
est me, I can not say that I was particularly struck with 
any one of the many in the gallery. The paintings, I 
should think, were more valuable, as a collection, illus- 
trative of the history and progress of different schools 
of the art, than on account of the superiority of individ- 
ual pieces. 

The university contains an extensive library. The 
ancient university, as it is called, has apartments four 
hundred and forty-six feet in length, filled with books, 
and the other building, whicli was formerly a palace, 
now occupied as a part of the university buildings, has 
extensive apartments containing thousands of volumes, 
and not less than nine thousand valuable manuscripts, 
some of them very old. Dr. Yejetti, professor of philol- 
ogy, the successor of the learned Mezzofanti, showed us 
through the library, and pointed out what he regarded 
as the most valuable and interesting manuscripts and 



232 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

books. From the professor I learned that there were 
only four hundred students in the university at this 
time. Its faculty numbers more than thirty professors, 
and scarcely any institution in the world affords finer 
facilities for the most thorough instruction in philology, 
tlie physical and experimental sciences, anatomy, phys- 
iology, medicine, the oriental languages, and jurispru- 
dence in all its branches, than this university. Once it 
had ten thousand students at one time ; now but four 
hundred. The reason of the limited number of stu- 
dents, at this time, as assigned by the professor of phi- 
lology himself, is, that none but Roman Catholics^ of the 
Papal States^ are allowed, without great trouble and 
tedious preliminaries, to become students in the institu- 
tion. So much for the exclusive and niggardly policy 
of the pope : thirty professors, and four hundred stu- 
dents. The library contains one hundred and forty 
thousand volumes and nine thousand manuscripts. 

There is an extensive museum of natural history of 
antiquities, of anatomy, and physiology, connected with 
the university. This institution was founded in 1119. 
It was the first school that ever dissected a human 
body ; and it was here the discovery of galvanism was 
made. But it is remarkable for an honor peculiarly its 
own, namely, the large number oi ii^ female professors. 

It is an historical fact, that Novella d' Andrea, a 
daughter of the celebrated canonist, frequently occupied 
her father's chair ; and it is recorded of her that her 
beauty was so great, that a curtain was drawn before 
her face while she was lecturing, that her bewitching 
loveliness might not distract or divert tlie attention of 
the students. Laura Bassi was also professor of mathe 
matics and natural philosophy in this university. She 
had the degree of doctor of laws conferred upon her ; 



I 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 233 

Laura Bassi, LL. D., professor of mathematics and 
natural philosophy in the university of Bologna ! 

Madonna Manzolini graduated in surgery in this in- 
stitution, and was afterward professor of anatomy ; 
and at a still later date, Matilda Tambroni, filled the 
Greek chair in the university. It would be well if 
those females who are so clamorous for women's rights 
in our own country would emulate the illustrious ex- 
ample of the distinguished females whose names are 
mentioned above. 

There are said to be one hundred churches in the 
city. Some are curious, some fine, some very imposing. 
The San Stefano is curious. It includes seven churches 
in one. San Dominico is a superb church. It contains 
the tombs of San Dominico, and also of Guido, the artist, 
who executed its finest frescoes and most celebrated 
paintings. The cathedral and especially the basilica 
San Petronio, are grand and imposing edifices, more 
particularly in their internal structure, finish, and ar- 
rangements. I visited several other churches, but think 
of nothing worthy of notice connected with them. 

The Leaning Towers of Bologna are immense piles 
of brick, inclining from an upright line, and one of 
them looks as though it might lose its l)alance, and 
topple over one of these days. The other is very high, 
somewhere between two hundred and fifty-six and four 
hundred feet. Strange to say, the guide-books, which 
settle everything pertaining to heights, distances, and 
dimensions, have not yet put down, with absolute cer- 
tainty, the exact height of this principal tower of Bo- 
logna. I was going to get a ball of twine, and settle 
" the vexed question," by actual measurement myself; 
but, on application, no custode was to be found, and we 
learned withal, that the tower was very difficult of as- 



234 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

cent. But I always go to the top of everytliing that 
Jias a way of ascent ; and the difficulties in this case 
would not have deterred me, had I found a custode to 
admit me. 

There is a strong revolutionary spirit among the 
people of Bologna, as I believe there is at Florence, 
Rome, Naples, and in all the governments of Italy. It 
showed itself, everywhere, in 1848. The people de- 
spise the priests, and really have but little respect for 
religion. The more intelligent and reflecting are skep- 
tical on the subject of religion. They have no other 
standard by which to judge of it, than that afforded in 
the priesthood, the confessional, and the endless round 
of Roman Catholic services. They are denied access 
to the Scriptures, and the right of private judgment in 
matters of religion, and they are fast growing skeptical, 
both as to the value of the sacraments and the divine 
originality of the pretended claims of the church, and 
are only waiting some favorable opportunity to burst 
their fetters, and go forth as free men. The danger 
is, of running to excess. If these people had the forms, 
and practical developments of Protestant Christianity 
before them, and enjoyed, withal, the right of private 
judgment in the examination of the Holy Scriptures, 
they would be prevented from running into that freedom 
and licentiousness of opinion, both as to religion and 
civil government, to which there is, everywhere, a 
strong and powerful tendency. The traveller meets 
with intelligent, well-informed men, in all parts of the 
country, who speak in a whisper, especially to Amer- 
icans, of their hatred of the priests, and their utter 
want of confidence in the efficacy of the sacraments of 
the Roman Catholic church. 

The morals of this city, I should judge, from the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. lioO 

number of patients in some of its hospitals, are not 
very good. Extensive provision is made for the support 
of foundlings and bastards. One seventh of the births 
in Bologna are said to be illegitimate. There are 
numerous "cases occurring here also, of stabbing, fighting, 
and personal violence. I saw a man this morning going 
to the place of execution for treason. No one seemed 
to care for it. 

Nothing has afforded me half so much pleasure since 
I have been in Bologna, as the performances of an 
amateur band of musicians, most of whom are blind, 
who have played under my window several times since 
I have been in this hotel. They were playing in the 
streets last night at the time of our arrival — they played 
again while we were at our supper, and when I awoke 
this morning they were again near the hotel, discoursing 
as sweet and delightful music as any one ever need 
desire to hear. On looking out of my window upon 
them, the poor fellows turned up their sightless eye- 
balls, with faces wearing that expression which always 
accompanies blindness, and while I enjoyed with such 
zest the delicious and soothing strains with which they 
filled my ears from their violins, clarionets, and other 
instruments, I felt that it was not simply an act of 
charity to give them something, but that I v/as receiving 
a full equivalent in return. I threw a half-dollar to 
their guide and collector, and as the silver jingled on 
the pavement their countenances brightened and their 
instruments all seemed to express the gratitude which 
gleamed in their upturned faces. Tiicy played again 
at dinner, and again this evening ; and as I leaned in 
my window, and feasted upon the banquet of sweet 
sounds, I felt as though I could not compensate the 
poor blind fellows, who stood so quietly upon the pave- 



236 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ment, and received with so many expressions of thank- 
fulness the little mites that were tossed to them from 
the window. There were some little snatches and 
strains, in the pieces which they so exquisitely perform- 
ed, that I can never forget. Wherever I may live or 
roam, at home or among strangers, I shall still re- 
member the notes that awoke such commingled and 
delightful emotions in my mind, from the band of blind 
musicians in Bologna. 

It is a sweet and lovely evening. The sky is cloud- 
less, and thickly set with brilliant and beautiful stars. 
The din of the city is dying into an echo, and silence 
is coming over the crowded masses of human beings, 
congregated within its walls. My thoughts have wan- 
dered away to my own distant home. I have thought 
of the dear ones that love mo there, and my heart has 
been drawn thitherward. But a vast distance separates 
me from that loved circle, and weary, long months 
must elapse before I can mingle with them again. Are 
they well ? are they happy ? Have they freedom from 
disease, and does gladness till their hearts ? I can not 
solve these questions. God bless them ! I can trans- 
mit them blessings by the way of the throne of grace. 
To-morrow morning early, we leave by way of Fer- 
rara, Eovigo, etc., for Padua, thence by rail to Venice, 
hoping to get there early day after to-morrow. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 237 



CHAPTER XVII. 

VENICE FROM VENICE TO VERONA. 

Arrival in Venice. — From Bologna to Ferrara. — Fen-ara. — Tasso's 
Prison. — Cross tiie Po. — Customhouse on entering Lombardy. — 
Ride by Rovigo to Padua. — Padua. — Giotti Chapel. — University. 
— Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia. — Piazzo della Rcgione. — By 
Rail to Venice. — Venice. — Strolls about the City. — Piazzo San 
Marco. — Bridge of Sighs. — San Marco. — Manfnni Palace. — 
House occupied by Lord Byron. — Lunatic Asylum. — Armenian 
Convent. — Ducal Palace. — Prisons. — Bridge of Sighs. — Venice. 
— Gondolas and Gondoliers. — Churches. — Rialto. — Campanile. — 
Sunday in Venice. — State of Religion, — Protestant Episcopal Wor- 
ship, &c. — Departure from Venice. — Troubles at the Custom- 
house. — Arrival at Verona. 

Venice, April 27, twelve o'clock^ M. — I can scarcely 
realize that I am in Venice. Venice, of which I have 
read so much and heard so much ! And yet it is so. 
1 now occupy a room in the Hotel Royal Danieli, from 
which I can look down upon the gondolas that rock or 
rest upon the bosom of the waters that form the streets 
of this unique city. Beautiful Venice ! It sits like a 
queen upon the waters, surrounded on every side by 
the fickle element, over which she has usurped empire 
and dominion. Every moment the voice of a gondolier 
rises to my window, either in song or in tones of com- 
mand or warning. As these boatmen, so long accus- 
tomed to the water that it seems almost their native ele- 
ment, push their slender gondolas along the streets, 
one plying an oar at the stern and another at the head, 
the one near the stem keeps an oyo ahead, and shapes 



238 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the course by crying out to the right or to the left^ and 
signalizes the approach of the boat to a corner, where 
there is danger of running into other boats, by a shrill 
cry that is well understood by oarsmen. 

But I am too fast. On yesterday morning I left Bo- 
logna at a little before seven o'clock in a private car- 
riage with Mr. and Mrs. Guild, leaving my fellow-travel- 
lers to come on in the public diligence. My object was 
to get to Ferrara. about thirty miles distant from Bo- 
logna, on the route to Padua, in time to allow me a few 
hours to devote to this old place before the arrival of 
the diligence ; intending to join my friends again, at 
that place, and proceed on to Padua. 

Immediately on leaving the gates of Bologna, we en- 
tered upon that plain of inexhaustible fertility and pro- 
ductiveness which extends from the base of the Apen- 
nines to Venice, and westward to the base of the Alps. 
It is perfectly level, and produces everything common 
to the climate in the most profuse abundance. The soil 
is alluvial and easily cultivated ; and wheat, corn, 
hemp, rice, beans, &c., are raised in the greatest quan- 
tities. It is also a land of vineyards. The vines are 
trained from tree to tree, in sweeping, graceful festoons, 
and present an agreeable spectacle to the eye of the 
traveller as he moves steadily along over the roads that 
stretch across these apparently boundless plains. These 
vineyards continue from Bologna to the Po, a distance 
of thirty-five or forty miles. In all this distance there 
is scarcely a mile where these trained vines, woven into 
a sort of open wickerwork and extending from tree to 
tree, planted at equal distances, may not be seen along 
the roadside and upon the adjacent fields. The road 
is perfectly level, and, in many places for miles together, 
as straight as a line. They are kept up at very con- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 239 

siderable expense by the government ; a great many 
hands being constantly employed in hauling pebbles, 
and in breaking up rocks into small pieces, with which 
the road is kept in a firm and unyielding condition. 
Over these pebbles a thin coating of earth is kept de- 
posited, and firmly pounded down, so as to preserve the 
surface in a smooth and even condition. 

On both sides the road from Bologna to Ferrara rows 
of white poplars, which are of rapid growth, are 
planted, not in single rows, but, in many places, three or 
four rovf s together, and these are cultivated and trimmed 
so as to make them run up very high, casting a shade 
all over the road. These are designed to protect the 
traveller against the burning rays of tlie sun, which are 
intensely oppressive here during the summer months. 
Besides these rows of white poplar, towering high over- 
head, there are hedge rows of hawthorn and other flow- 
ering shrubs planted by the margin of the road. Some- 
times a delicate wickerwork fence would vary the 
adornments of the wayside. 

For many miles on leaving Bologna, there is a small 
stream of water, a mere brooklet, that runs by the road- 
side ; not a noisy brattling stream, but a lazy, oily cur- 
rent, that is just suited to the scenery. The grass 
grows down the sloping banks to the edge of the wa- 
ter, and it creeps along, under the shrubbery, with a 
drowsy, muffled murmur, now reflecting a cottage, now 
spanned by the arch of a bridge, now lost by a little 
detour around a garden, and now flashing in the sun- 
light that falls for a moment upon its bosom. The dew 
was not yet exhaled from shrub and flower as we enter- 
ed, yesterday morning, upon this lovely road, stretching- 
over this fertile plain, skirted with rich green fields, and 
vineyards, and farmhouses, and gardens, and cottages. 



240 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

The sun was climbing up a sky of niatcliless blue, and 
the sweet-scented hawthorn, with its white clustering 
blossoms that nestled so sweetly among the green leaves, 
and the plume-like clusters of the lilac, were breathing 
incense upon the morning air. The birds were merry ; 
the laborers were abroad among the wheat and vegeta-. 
bles, while a thousand elements combined to make the 
whole scene one of intoxicating delight, and untold love- 
liness. The trees are planted in rows as far as the eye 
can reach, in every direction, not only upon the sides 
of the road, but across the fields, separating different 
farms, and affording shade for man and beast daring the 
summer heat. They present a strange appearance, at 
first pleasing by their novelty, then wearying by their 
monotony. I suppose this wide and productive plain, 
now so highly improved, presents an appearance stri- 
kingly similar to that which will be presented by our own 
western prairies, when they shall bloom with gardens, 
smile with cottages and happy homes, and sleep at morn 
and evening in sheltered beauty, beneath the long 
shadows of tall trees ; and shall be broken and marked 
by elegant roads, hedged with shrubs, and fringed with 
flowers, winding among fruitful fields, and snowy villa- 
ges, scattered here and there amid the ocean of green 
foliage, crested with billows of fragrant flowers. 

The sun was shining with great fervor, and the roads 
were hot and dusty, when we entered Ferrara near mid- 
day. Under the guidance of an intelligent voAet de 
place, we visited the prison in which Tasso was confined 
for seven years. On its walls are the names of a num- 
ber of literary persons who have visited the gloomy 
cell. Among others, I saw that of Lord Byron, Lamar- 
tine, N. P. Willis, Wilde, and a great many more, too 
numerous to mention. The room in which Calvin found 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 241 

Bhelter under the protection of the Duchess of Renee, 
the high-minded daughter of Louis XII., and wife of 
Ercole II. was pointed out to us. 

The spirit of revolution ran high at this place in 
1848, and not a few lost their lives by the part which 
they took in the insurrectionary movements. It was 
here that Cardinal Bedini perpetrated the outrages upon 
the person of Hugo Bassi, which brought such a storm 
about his ears during his visit to the United States, as 
compelled him to leave without accomplishing the tour 
which he had projected. 

At three o'clock I took the diligence with my fellow- 
travellers — soon reached the Po — the boundary-line 
between the states of the church and Lombardy — 
under Austrian rule. Here we crossed the river on a 
flying- bridge — a singular contrivance. 

On reaching the opposite shore our baggage was ex- 
amined, and our passports scrutinized. We were de- 
tained two hours — tedious and trying to the patience 
of the traveller. 

Our way was along the banks of the Po for several 
miles. Road straight as an arrow, with rows of Lom- 
bardy poplars on each side. Fruitful fields. Passed 
Posella. Reached Rovigo at eight o'clock. Band of 
music playing. Got a cup of coffee. Started. Reach- 
ed Padua at one o'clock at night, and slept soundly till 
after sunrise. 

This morning we spent an hour or so in looking 
round upon the principal objects of much attraction in 
Padua. The Giotti chapel, of course, came in for a 
place in this catalogue. Our guide carried us here 
first. It is an old building, and apart from the frescoes 
by Giotti, the artist of whom the Paduans are so proud, 
there is nothino: worthy of note. The frescoes repre- 

11 



242 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

sent many scenes in the life of our Saviour, and some of 
them are very fine. Over the door of entrance to the 
chapel, there is a fresco of the final judgment, in which 
are represented the spirits of the just, and also large 
groups of the lost. In this painting the sins of the 
Roman Catholic priesthood are represented in rather 
revolting colors. Pity it is, that there should ever 
have been any occasion for such representations. 

We visited the university of Padua. It numbers at 
present fifteen hundred students. It has a fine library. 
Here we saw the statue of the celebrated Elena Lu- 
crezia Cornaro Piscopia, who died in 1684, aged forty- 
eight years. She was a woman of rare accomplish- 
ments, and most finished education. She spoke fluent- 
ly, it is said, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, and 
French. She was a fine musician, and a highly respect- 
able poetess. She wrote mathematical and astronom- 
ical dissertations, and received a doctor's degree 
from the university. That which is not least remark- 
able in her history is, that she refused the most 
flattering and advantageous propositions in matrimony, 
and died the mistress of her own fortunes. 

AVe visited also the Piazza del/a Ragione, an im- 
mense structure, which stands entirely on open arches, 
surrounded by a loggia. It is remarkable for its large 
hall, two hundred and forty feet in length by eighty 
feet in width, the roof of which is unsupported by 
pillars. In this hall is the monument to Liv?/. It is 
said the site of Livy's house can be pointed out in 
Padua. 

At ten o'clock we left by rail for Venice. The 
distance is a little more than twenty miles. We ran 
it in an hour. The approach to the city is, for several 
miles, over a magnificent stone bridge, stretching across 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 243 

the immense lagoon with which Venice is surrounded 
on all sides. With but little detention at the custom- 
house we were permitted to pass on, and soon we were 
in a gondola — threading the grand canal, through a 
large extent of the city, passing near the Rialto, and 
under the " Bridge of Sighs," and finally we came to 
a halt at the door of the Hotel Royal Danieli. 

It is hard for any one who has not actually seen 
Venice, properly to conceive of its real situation. The 
houses are actually built on foundations that are under 
the water, and the canals, which form the thorough- 
fares, answering to the streets, alleys, and lanes of 
other cities, wash the walls of the houses ; and the 
steps descend immediately from the doors of the houses 
into the water. There are no sidewalks or porches 
intervening. Along these canals the boats are con- 
stantly passing, just as the carriages, omnibuses, carts, 
hacks, and other vehicles, pass the streets of other 
cities. Some are very fine and elegant. Others are 
plain. Some large and some small, presenting quite as 
great a variety in this regard as the vehicles do which 
throng the streets of other large commercial and fash- 
ionable cities. 

My strolls about Venice during the afternoon and 
evening of to-day have made a very favorable impres- 
sion upon my mind. The Piazza San Marco is one of 
the finest, if not decidedly the finest, public square in 
Europe. It is surrounded by splendid buildings on all 
sides, with a complete circuit of corridors in front of 
the splendid shops that open upon the square. There 
are several columns on the open space, one of which is 
crowned with the winged lion of Venice. From San 
Marco's, the bronze horses of Venice^ whose history is 
60 full of interest, look down upon the square, while 



244 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

southward, in one place, it opens to the harbor and 
gulf of Venice, from which, this evening, a pleasant 
breeze came up upon the piazzo, which was very grate- 
ful after the oppressive heat of the day. It is a lovely 
evening ; and just now, as I paused over the canal near 
this hotel, and gazed upon the Bridge of Sighs just 
above me, that stood out so distinctly in the clear night 
air, spanning the space between the old palace of the 
doges of Venice, and the dark gloomy prison on the 
other side of the canal, my heart grew sick, as I re- 
called all that I had heard and read of the fate of 
thousands who had passed that bridge. ' There were 
the strong iron grates through which the glimmering 
light had stolen into their cheerless cells ; there was 
the door, near the water's edge, out of which their 
dead bodies had passed into the stream of utter ob- 
livion. The shadows of the departed seemed to pass 
before me, flitting in the gathering gloom of the night, 
and the bridge, in my imagination, at least, became 
vocal with the groans and sighs of the many victims of 
cruelty and wrong who had walked, in sadness, across 
it for the last time. 

But I have not seen enough of this wonderful city 
yet to justify me in making any attempt to describe it. 
In point of splendor and brilliancy it surpasses Naples, 
and I think is scarcely inferior to Paris. 

April 28. — Yesterday I visited San Marco — or the 
church of Saint Mark's — now the cathedral of Venice. 
It is an oriental building in its appearance, and reminds 
one of a Mohammedan mosque. It is a dark and 
dingy building, and has but little to fix the attention 
on first entering it ; but a more patient survey brings 
out much to study and admire — especially its mo- 
saics, which completely cover the interior ceiling in 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TEAVEL. 245 

all its arches, groins, and domes. It would fill a small 
volume to name and describe these mosaic pictures. 
Some of them are very old. 

But Saint Mark's is full of historic interest. It 
stands in one way or another connected with the his- 
tory of Venice from its foundation till the present 
time. 

The campanile in front of Saint Mark's is a lofty 
square tower, and amply repays an ascent to its sum- 
mit. The ascent is easy, and the view magnificent. 
One can look down on the whole city, and take in at 
a glance all the environs, including the gulf of 
Venice, the lagoon, railroad, canals, islands, and the 
more distant main land, for many miles in circumfer- 
ence. 

To-day has been occupied in visiting some of the 
principal objects that claim the attention of travellers 
in and about Venice. First we visited the Manfrini 
palace, which contains a large collection of paintings. 
Many of them are by the finest artists, and are, cer- 
tainly, very superior paintings. 

Returning from the palace down the grand canal we 
stopped at the house occupied by Lord Byron, during 
his long sojourn in Venice. It is now occupied by a 
private family, but we were kindly admitted and cour- 
teously conducted to the apartment up-stairs, looking 
out upon the canal, in which the cynic bard wrote many 
of his poems. The name of Byron is now indissolubly 
associated with Venice. I leaned from the window 
through which he gazed upon the splendors of Italian 
skies at sunset and caught inspiration for his verse. 
I stood where he stood, perchance, when, with the sound 
of the gondolier's song in his ear, he felt the inspiration 
which burst forth : — 



246 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

" 'T is sweet to hear 
At midnight, on the blue and moonlit deep, 
The song and oar of Adria's gondolier, 
By distance mellowed o'er the water's sweep." 

We next started for the Armenian convent, that 
stands a mile or so from the city, on an island called 
San Lazaro. On our way we passed the lunatic asylum — 
the " mad-house" mentioned by Shelley in his " Juleaii 
and Maddalo." Here we stopped, and under the guid- 
ance of an intelligent young man, we were conducted 
through all the apartments of this extensive institution. 
There are at present about five hundred inmates, of all 
classes. We were shown through the large rooms oc- 
cupied by the sick, and through others filled with lu- 
natics, in every stage of derangement short of that mad- 
ness which leads to deeds of violence. One of these 
poor unfortunate creatures, who fancies himself an 
emperor, came up to one of our party, with a magiste- 
rial air, and laying his hand upon him said: " I am an 
emperor: you are a subject. I should have more def- 
erence and respect shown to mc ; pull off your hat in 
my presence." He ofiered no violence, but seemed to 
think that he was entitled to such an act of respect 
from all who passed through the apartment where he 
walked at large. 

Among the inmates we learned there were some, who 
were well educated, and had occupied the highest po- 
sitions in society. 

The whole institution seemed to be under a fine system 
of management, and we received, from the officers, 
every mark of respect and attention while we were 
within the enclosure. The asylum stands upon an 
island, which it completely covers, lying right in front 
of the harbor, and about a mile from the city. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 247 

From tha lunatic asylum, we proceeded on toward 
the convent in our gondola, pushed forward by two 
oarsmen, one of whom Avould have weighed at least 
three hundred pounds. 

On reaching the convent we were received by a most 
intelligent and gentlemanly monk, who, on learning 
that we preferred a guide who could speak English, 
retired, and in a few moments a highly-educated monk, 
> who had a pretty easy command of the English language, 
took us in hand, and showed us through the establish- 
ment. From him I learned that the Armenians of 
this convent hold substantially the creed of the Roman 
Catholics, while their rites, discipline, government, and 
ceremonies, are different. The Armenians of Mount 
Lebanon differ from them in creed and modes of 
worship. 

This convent has an extensive printing establishment 
connected with it, in which a semi-monthly periodical 
is printed, the articles for which are written by the in- 
mates of the institution. These monks are fine scholars. 
They publish all the books for the Armenians of the 
whole nation, of whom there is one hundred thousand in 
Constantinople alone, and in all five hundred thousand; 
many of whom are in India. They print here the 
creed of the Armenians in twenty-seven languages, all 
contained in one neat, small volume. They translate 
works of light literature, and publish them for general 
circulation among their people ; and among these trans- 
lations, I was not a little surprised to find " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," translated by the young gentleman who 
showed as through the establishment. They publish also 
their popular songs in English and Armenian, together 
with some translations of Byron's poems into Armenian, 
as well as Byron's translations of some of their songs, 



248 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and his translations of parts of the Epistles to the 
Corinthians, all in the same volume. 

Byron studied the Armenian language in this con- 
vent, during his sojourn in Venice ; and his study, table, 
and chair, are still shown to visiters. His teacher, as 
we were informed, died about two years ago. 

The library of this institution has some fine manu- 
scripts and books. We were shown a manuscript copy 
of the Holy Scriptures in the Armenian language. It 
was most beautifully executed. 

Returning to the city we visited the old ducal pal- 
ace. Here we found some exceedingly fine paintings, 
especially those by Tintoretto, some of them the largest 
paintings on canvass in the world. We descended into 
the gloomy prisons of the palace, where criminals were 
confined during the days of the doges of Venice, and 
where the condemned were strangled with a cord. The 
dark rock-built cells, underground and cut off from light, 
were enough to freeze the blood. I could almost fancy 
that I heard the groans of incarcerated prisoners, as I 
crept along the dark passages, following a guide, who 
carried a feeble light in this hand, and discoursed con- 
tinually upon the uses of different apartments, and de- 
scribed the tortures of the imprisoned and condemned 
with as much indifference as if he had been talking about 
hanging so many puppies. We passed from the palace 
out upon the " Bridge of Sighs," that spans the canal 
between the palace and the general prison, in which 
the great mass of the prisoners was confined in the 
days of the old doges. The prisons under the palace 
were especially for those w^ho were guilty of treason, 
or capital state offences. This bridge is covered over, 
with two narrow passages, extending across from the 
palace to the prison. There are massive iron grates. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 249 

admitting a little light, and the whole is a gloomy 
passage, over which many a poor condemned criminal 
has passed, to return no more. 

Venice is unlike any other place in the world. It 
sits in the water. The canals are the streets, lanes, and 
alleys of the city. The gondolas and boats are the 
carriages, hacks, omnibuses, carts, wagons, and drays, 
and the sturdy, sunburnt oarsmen are the horses. Such 
a thing as a land carriage or horse is never seen here. 
It is wonderful to see the skill with which a single man 
can manage a long gondola, with six or eight persons 
in it. He can wheel it up to the steps of your hotel, 
or private door, take you in, and dart off with more 
despatch than a driver could do the same with a car- 
riage and horses. He uses but one oar, and stands on 
the hinder part of the gondola, managing so to balance 
the pressure of the oar on one side by the weight of 
his body on the other, as to make the boat head in the 
desired direction. The gondola seems, in fact, to be- 
come a part and parcel of the oarsman. He moves it 
about by a sort of muscular force which makes it seem 
to be but a part of himself. He turns his foot or hand 
or extends his arm, and the gondola turns ; the move- 
ment of the gondola is simultaneous with the movement 
of his body. He turns a corner and darts down an 
alley with amazing celerity, and runs up to the door at 
the top of his speed, and stops, in an instant, without 
jolting against the marble steps. 

The Sabbath in Venice, is quite as much respected 
as in any other city in Italy, so far as my observation 
extends ; but it is shamefully desecrated even here. 
The Catholic churches are pretty well attended on Sab- 
bath morning, but as soon as the services are over, the 
whole population seem to give themselves up to amuse- 

11* 



250 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ment and pleasure. The stores or shops of ordinary 
business, are generally closed, but cafes, provision stores, 
and eating-houses of every description, are kept open, 
as on other days, and seem to be places of great resort. 
A fine Austrian band, connected with the military corps, 
performs every Sunday afternoon upon the Piazza of 
Saint Mark's, and the whole open square is crowded with 
the teeming population, and with the numerous visiters 
to the city. By the way, these Austrian bands discourse 
about as fine music as is anywhere heard in Europe. 

The Established church of England is doing more 
than any other department of the great body of Christ, 
in the way of supporting Protestant religious worship 
in the principal cities of the Continent. In every 
large commercial place, as well as in the interior cities, 
they have chapels ; and, during the winter and spring 
months especially, keep up regular religious services. 
I have found these chapels in Paris, Genoa, Leghorn, 
Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice. The officiating 
ministers, so far as I can ascertain, are supported by 
the voluntary contributions of resident English and 
American families, and by a tax le\aed upon all visiters, 
who attend service in these chapels. Every one who 
occupies a seat is expected to pay for it. The price is 
fixed, and the money collected at the door, unless pre- 
viously paid for. It is very agreeable, any way, for an 
American or Englishman to find a place of religious 
worship on the Christian Sabbath in the midst of a cor- 
rupt form of Christianity, where he can hear the pure 
gospel preached, in his own language. And in all the 
churches which I have attended, I have been struck 
with the truly evangelical preaching which I have heard. 
The sermons have been plain, simple, earnest, gospel 
sermons ; every way adapted to do good. And it is 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 251 

obvious that the happiest results must be produced by 
this stated religious worship in these cities. Influences 
must silently go out from these chapels, that will be felt 
upon the respective communities in which they are lo- 
cated. Each chapel becomes a radiating point from 
which rays of light will emanate, penetrating the sur- 
rounding darkness, and continue to spread in ever- 
widening circles, until the great masses of the popu- 
lation will begin to see " men as trees, walking ;" and 
a new day of glorious gospel light will dawn upon this 
vast country, with its teeming millions, now actually 
shrouded in a gloom that is but little better than 
heathenish darkness. 

But the people — the ignorant, uneducated classes, 
who form the great masses of the population, are so 
hopelessly wedded to their religion of forms — to that 
which is purely outioard — that it must require a long 
time to substitute their forms and ceremonies, by the 
simple, spiritual worship of the New Testament. Their 
religion is a religion of ivorks. They believe that their 
prayers, penance, sufferings, and alms-deeds, are merito- 
rious. They actually know nothing of the sublime and 
beautiful doctrine of justification hj faith alone in Jesus 
Christ. The Bible is a sealed book to them. " The 
priests' lips keep knowledge." They can not — they 
dare not read the Scriptures ; they are denied the right 
of the private interpretation of God's holy Avord ; lib- 
erty of conscience is wrested from them, and they are 
taught to believe what the church believes — what the 
priests teach. Hence they are seen at early morn, upon 
their knees, on the cold marble pavement of their great 
cathedrals and churches, muttering prayers, and count- 
ing them on a string of beads ; or kneeling at a confes- 
sional box, whispering their sins and misdeeds into the 



252 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ear of a father confessor, at whose hands they are to 
obtain absolution ; or climbing " the sacred stairway," 
on their knees, hoping thereby to receive future indul- 
gence for all their sins. They know nothing of a bet- 
ter religion. It would cost a man his life, in many parts 
of Europe, to congregate the people in masses and 
preach a simple gospel sermon to them — setting aside 
any other method of salvation, save by faith alone in 
Jesus Christ, " which sweetly works by love." Their 
religion is a heavy yoke — an oppressive burden. Most 
of it could be taken away, and utterly annihilated, 
without touching or impairing the religion of the New 
Testament. Take away the font and the holy water ; 
take away the candles, candlesticks, crucifixes, and pic- 
tures ; take away the high altar and the mass ; break 
down the confessional boxes, and clothe the poor with 
the priestly vestments of the sacristy ; coin the accumu- 
lated treasures of gold and silver into the national cur- 
rency, and throw it into circulation ; do all this, and a 
great deal more, and at what point have you touched 
that religion which has its seat in the heart ; or impair- 
ed that worship which depends not on mosaic floors, 
marble columns, soaring arches, and resounding domes, 
to make it acceptable to God ; that worship which 
Christ himself has taught us, does not consist in out- 
ward genuflexions, many prayers, fastings, and pompous 
ceremonies, but that which is m spirit and in truth I 
But, take all these away, and what is left of the Roman 
Catholic religion ? Scarcely a vestige. Do this, and 
the pious Catholic might say, " Ye have taken away my 
gods, and what have ye left me ?" 

There is a melancholy state of things in nearly all of 
Europe, so far as evangelism — true evangelism m reli- 
gion — is concerned. It is an element almost entirely 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 253 

foreign to all the forms of worship prevalent in most of 
the kingdoms of this vast continent. And unless God 
lays to his own almighty hand, and breaks up the 
present despotic forms of government, which deprive 
men of the liberty of conscience, and cut them off from 
the Bible, the only true source of religious knowledge, 
I see no possible method of improvement. 

Verona, April 29. — Ten o'' clock at night. — Just 
arrived in this old city, and taken quarters at the Hotel 
due torre. Left Venice at five o'clock this afternoon by 
railroad, travelled over a fine country, through a thun- 
der-storm. 

The whole of the day, up to the hour of leaving 
Venice, was occupied in seeing places of interest and 
curiosity not visited before. First, we took a round 
among the churches — visiting the Frari containing the 
tomb of Titian, and a monument to Canova, with some 
fine paintings and statuary; San Giorgio Maggiore — 
a fine piece of Corinthian architecture ; Santa Maria 
della Salute; the Chiesa de Gesuiti — a superb house, 
finished in a most costly style; Scuola di San Roco, 
which has a number of Tintoretto's paintings ; St. John 
and St. Paul — a magnificent church, with the finest 
bas-reliefs, representing a series of important events in 
the history of Christ in white marble, that I have ever 
seen. These were executed by five different sculptors, 
and are truly splendid and beautiful. 

Then we visited the Rialto, immortalized by the pen 
of Shakespeare. It is now a vegetable and fruit mar- 
ket ; and old women were quarrelling where Shylock 
and Antonio talked over the great matters of commerce 
and trade. 

Next we took the Academy of Fine Arts. This con- 
tains the finest collection of paintings in Venice ; some 



254 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of them are superb. 1 have seen nothing that has 
struck me more forcibly than some of these pictures. 

We then ascended the campanile, on the Piazza of 
St. Mark's, and took a parting survey of the whole city 
of Venice. The ascent is easy — being an inclined 
plane, up which one could easily ride a donkey, and the 
view is splendid from the top. At the time of our ascent 
an Austrian band of musicians, fifty-six in number, was 
playing sublime and delightful music on the Piazzo. It 
rose softly on our ears, as we stood two hundred and fifty 
feet above the pavement, and looked down on the circle 
of musicians that stood near the base of the campanile. 

We left our hotel in a gondola ; wound around into 
the Grand canal, and followed its serpentine course 
until we reached the railroad station. Here we were 
again subjected to the provoking annoyance of having 
our trunks unpacked, all our little boxes opened, and a 
duty levied on some mere little trifles in the way of mo- 
saic brooches, beads for children, and a few similar 
articles of very little value. We came near being left 
by the cars. We were altogether disinclined to pay the 
duty at first charged, and told the contemptible officers 
that they were perfectly welcome to the articles in 
question — that they were of no great intrinsic value, and 
were designed as little presents for friends at home. 
They then fell from one hundred francs to twenty ; 
whereupon we paid the amount, and were glad to get 
out of the hands of these horse-leeches and vampires. 
I am pleased at the prospect of getting beyond the 
limits of such a villanous and suspicious government. 
They opened all our letters, examined our journals and 
everything else in our trunks. 

To-morrow morning we shall see what is to be seen 
in Verona, and then leave for Milan. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 255 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

VERONA AND MILAN. 

Kainy Morning;. — Catholic Church. — Two Younc: Ladies. — Vero- 
nese Veils. — Visit to the Tomb of Juliet. — Amphitheatre. — Verona. 

— From Verona to Milan. — Face of the Country. — Arrival at 
Milan. — First Visit to the Cathedral. — San Carlo Borromeo. — 
Second Visit to the Cathedral. — Music. — View from the Oc- 
tagon Tower. — Dimensions of the Cathedral. — Brera Gallery. 

— City of Milan. — Drive around the Boulevards. — Arena. — Arch 
of Peace. — Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. — Ambrosian Library. 

— Last Visit to the Cathedral. — Sunset View from the Roof and 
Tower. 

Yerona, April 30. — Torrents of rain were descend- 
ing this morning when I awoke ; but as we were to 
leave at eleven o'clock for Milan, no time was to be 
lost, and arousing my fellow-travellers from their slum- 
bers, we started out to visit the principal objects of 
attraction in Verona, before breakfast. These are very 
few. Besides the amphitheatre, and the so-called 
tomb of Juliet — a name so identified with that of 
Romeo that we can scarcely pronounce them separately 
— there is but little else to claim the attention of the 
traveller. While we were waiting for the carriage, we 
stepped into a largo and elegant church which stands 
near the hotel, where we saw the Catholics, in large 
numbers, attending to their morning devotions. Many 
of the ladies came through the drenching rain, with 
nothing on their heads but thin veils. By-the-way, 
these veils, worn by the ladies of Verona, are ex- 



256 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

ceedingly tasteful, and becoming. They are not alto- 
gether unlike the covering for the head worn by the 
ladies in Genoa ; more of the veil^ however, and still 
more handsome and becoming, I think, much as I ad- 
mired the ladies' head-dress in Genoa. Among the 
worshippers whom I saw enter the church this morning, 
there were two young ladies, rather handsome than other- 
wise, who seemed to be full of life and animation. There 
was a cheerfulness of expression and gayety of manner 
that amounted almost to mischievousness. They enter- 
ed the church with a bound — touched the holy water, 
and crossed themselves carelessly — eying the stran- 
gers at the door all the time — then knelt in chairs 
before an altar of the church and soon performed their 
devotions. In crossing themselves at the font, on re- 
tiring from the church, they playfully attempted to 
cross each other, and actually left the sanctuary in a 
high state of glee and merriment. 

But our carriage was waiting, and we rode first 
to the tomb — or what passes for the tomb — of Juliet. 
The rain was falling in torrents, and we reached the 
entrance to the tomb before the custode was up. I 
must premise that whoever visits the tomb of Juliet, 
with highly-inflated notions from reading Shakespeare, 
that he is to approach a splendid monumental pile, 
with " storied urn and animated bust," through fune- 
real walks, where the cypress and the yew cast their 
dark shade upon the snowy marble, is destined to dis- 
appointment. We rang a bell at a rickety door, that 
turned out to be the entrance to a cowhouse, or some- 
thing of the sort, and were admitted by an old woman, 
slatternly dressed, with clogs on her feet, and her hair 
uncombed — she was our guide. As the rain was fal- 
ling fast, and the whole surface of the onrth was cover- 



KOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 257 

ed witli water, and the path which led through a 
vegetable garden to the tomb was narrow, we took it 
in single file — the old lady leading the way, with her 
skirts tucked up, and her clogs splashing in the puddles 
of rain. We soon reached an establishment that looked 
like a stable and a kitchen combined, and passed into a 
sort of court, where the scents were not altogether as 
sweet and odorous, as those which greet the olfactories 
on entering the laboratory where perfumes are pre- 
pared in the monastery of Santa Maria de Novella at 
Florence. And here, there was something pointed out 
to us as the tomb of Juliet, which looked more like an 
old timeworn trough, used for watering stock, than 
anything else to which I can compare it. The old lady, 
our guide, in Italian^ not a word of which we under- 
stood, repeated her oft-related story, pointing here and 
there, and looking as wise as an owl all the time ; first 
one, and then another of our party, responding " Si," 
" Gia" — which was meant for "Yes" — "Just so." 
It was hard to suppress a strong disposition which I 
felt to break out in a great uproarous laugh, at the 
ludicrous picture which we presented — standing in a 
group, in a heavy shower of rain, around an old, broken 
stone-trough, listening to an old, ignorant woman des- 
canting on " the tomb of Juliet.'^'' 

Murray, who is good authority, says in his guide- 
book, that the tomb of Juliet was certainly shown, in 
the last century, before Shakespeare became known to 
the Italians. That tomb, however, he remarks, has 
long since been destroyed; and then, very coolly adds : 
" The present one, in the garden ol the Orfanotrofio, 
does just as well^ He further adds that what is now 
shown as the tomb of Juliet, was used as a lu ashing: 
trough before it was promoted to its present honor ' 



258 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

So much for the tomb of Juliet. And it is to visit just 
such things, that tourists rise early, travel far, and un- 
dergo fatigue ; often making long and expensive de- 
tours from the main line of travel, for no other reason 
than to say, on returning home, that they have seen 
thus and so. There, doubtless, were such persons as 
Romeo and Juli-et, and it is fair to presume that each 
one had a tomb ; but it is certainly very difficult, at 
this day, in the entire absence of any epitaph or monu- 
mental stone, to say, with any degree of certainty, 
where those tombs are. The fact is, there is scarcely 
any of the tombs, that are pointed out to travellers, as 
the last resting-places of world-renowned personages, 
with the exception of such as actually have unquestion- 
able inscriptions, with abundant collateral proof, that 
have anything more than remote inferences and conjec- 
ture in support of their claims, as the real graves of 
the departed, whose names they now bear. Tliis is 
true of what passes. for the tomb of Yirgil, of Cicero, 
and of a host of others that might be named. 

The amphitheatre of Verona is really worth visiting. 
It is, indeed, a most interesting ruin, and is more 
nearly perfect, and in a better state of preservation, 
than any other amphitheatre now in existence. It is 
supposed to have been built between the years 81 and 
117 of the Christian era, and was contemporary with 
the Coliseum at Rome. The outer portions have been 
nearly destroyed, but the interior is almost perfect. 
The circular seats, rising one above another, from the 
arena, to the remotest and highest circle, more than 
forty in number, are nearly perfect, and would this day, 
seat more than twenty thousand persons. It is elliptical 
in form, and its greater diameter is five hundred and 
thirteen feet ; the lesser four hundred and ten feet. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 259 

The arena is two liimdred and forty-eiglit by one 
hundred and forty-seven feet. The whole is constructed 
of Verona marble, and in its dilapidated state it pre- 
sents a most sublime and imposing spectacle. 

Verona is beautifully situated in a valley that is 
surrounded on the north by high hills, beyond which 
the Alpine ranges are seen lifting their snowy sum- 
mits. The Adige flows through the city ; and seen 
from a distance, with its walls and towers, it is one of 
the finest-looking places that meet the eye of the trav- 
eller in Europe. It has a population of more than 
sixty thousand. 

Milan, April 30 (^at nig-lU^. — We left Verona this 
morning at eleven o'clock by rail for Coccaglio, at 
which place we took diligence for Treviglio, a distance 
of twenty-three miles, where we again took the rail- 
road for Milan. The whole line of travel from Venice, 
by way of Padua, Verona, Brescia, and Treviglio, is 
through an interesting portion of country. The soil, 
after leaving Padua, is not so good as in the lower 
parts of Lombardy, bordering on the Po, and extend- 
ing to Bologna, but the land is everywhere in a fine 
state of cultivation, and seems to produce grain in 
great abundance. The whole distance from Venice to 
Milan is about one hundred and sixty miles, the road 
running almost directly west. After leaving Padua, 
the lower ranges and off-shoots of the Alps begin to 
appear on the north. In some places they approach 
very near the line of the road, and rise to a height at 
which their snowy tops reach the clouds. These 
mountains form the northern boundary of that great 
fertile plain which extends from the base of the Apen- 
nines on the south, and is bounded by the shores of the 
Adriatic on the east ; and it admits of a doubt v/hether 



260 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

there is a more productive portion of land, of the same 
extent of surface, in the world. This is certainly true 
of that part which lies between the Po and the Apen- 
nines, and between the Adige and the Po. The sun 
had gone down when we came in sight of the lofty 
turrets and towers of the great cathedral of Milan. A 
sort of quiet, dusky repose seemed to hover around 
this magnificent and gorgeous pile of marble, construct- 
ed with consummate skill, as we entered the walls of 
the city, and threaded the well-paved streets, on our 
way to the Hotel cle la Ville, where we took lodgings, 
and found delightful accommodations. 

Milan, Ma?/ 1. — This morning I arose early, and 
went alone to the cathedral. My first full view of it 
was from the northeast angle, the front being west ; and 
it is impossible to embody in words the sublime emotions 
that filled my breast. It so far overleaped all my most 
enlarged expectations that there was actually an^awe 
and wonder excited that almost stupified me. Looking 
upward toward its hundreds of light, airy, heaven-point- 
ing pinnacles, crowned with what, at that distance, ap> 
peared like delicate and exquisite statuary, the effect 
was positively stunning. The mind staggered and reeled 
in the attempt to take it in, and comprehend it, but it 
wrestled in vain, it could not grasp the stupendous 
and wonderful pile. The effect of the interior was 
of a different character ; a different class of emotions 
was called into play. A feeling of solemn awe, not 
unfriendly to the deepest devotion, stole over my mind, 
and trembled along the very nerves of my soul, as 1 
slowly rambled among the wilderness of columns, and 
beneath the fretted arches of this magnificent and 
sublime temple. The sun was just up, and the gushes 
of horizontal beams upon the stained glass, in the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 261 

higher parts of the roof, flooded the upper regions of 
the church with golden and crimson light, while a 
sort of twilight gloom still lingered in the nave, 
transepts, and chapels below. The Catholics were at 
their devotions. There was no music — no chanting — 
no audible prayers — no responses. Everything was 
quiet, solemn, impressive. My own heart was affected, 
and I stood mute, but not indevout or prayerless in this 
great house, built for God. 

Returning again to the street I rambled round the 
entire cathedral, at a sufficient distance to get a full 
view of its roof, buttresses, cupolas, and towers, capped 
and interspersed with an immense number of angels, 
saints, apostles, and martyrs, in marble. It looked like 
a petrified city, where the population had all been sud- 
denly arrested, and turned to stone, drawing their mar- 
ble drapery around them with the last convulsive throb- 
bings of expiring existence ; some with hands and eyes, 
uplifted to heaven ; some kneeling ; some crouching 
under heavy burdens ; and others, lightly touching the 
pointed summit of pinnacle or spire, with the bounding 
foot, in the attitude of one panting for a higher and 
happier clime than earth, and giving up existence, under 
the marble touch of death, just at the last point of contact 
with this mundane sphere — the spirit fled; the body, 
in longing expectancy, left behind. As to criticism, 
my mind could not reach a point so high ; and I actual- 
ly forgot, for the time, all the criticisms which I had 
seen, on the facade — the open tracery — the interior — 
the statuary. I did not attempt to descend to any of 
the minor points of detail, but rather contemplated it 
as a whole, and the gratification was thrilling and in- 
tense. It is worth a trip from the United States to 
Milan just to see the great Duomo or cathedral, which 



2&1 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

is put down, very properly, as one of the wonders of the 
world. I write this early in the day, while the impres- 
sions of my first visit are vivid upon my mind ; how 
these views will be modified by subsequent visits, I am 
not prepared to say. I anticipate that they are to be 
heightened by views from the octagon gallery, which 
enables the beholder to look down, and minutely survey 
the petrified city that crowns the vast superstructure. 

The San Carlo Borromeo, a church just opposite the 
Hotel de la Yille, a new edifice, built after the model 
of the Pantheon at Rome, is a most interesting piece of 
architecture. It is surmounted with a dome, only sec- 
ond in size to that of the Pantheon ; its diameter being 
one hundred and five feet, and its height one hundred 
and fifty feet. Its front is a rich Corinthian peristyle 
after the pattern of the Pantheon. 

Two o^clock^ same date. — I have just returned from 
another visit to the cathedral, which has greatly height- 
ened my admiration of this noble and beautiful struc- 
ture. On entering the church my ears were saluted 
with as sublime and ravishing strains of music as it has 
ever been my good fortune to hear. To-day is a great 
church festival. I am not sufficiently posted up in the 
Roman Catholic calendar to know whether it is a gen- 
eral or local festival ; whether devoted to apostle or 
martyr, or observed in celebration of the birth or 
death or noble deeds of some person who has lived and 
died in Milan. This is not material ; for the Roman 
Catholics have a festival or fast for nearly every day in 
the year. Thousands were entering the cathedral ; 
and the tones of the organ, and the sweeter strains of 
the human voice, combining into high swelling music, 
filled the whole church. Such voices ! so finely modu- 
lated ; so rich ; so full ; so soft ; rising from whispered. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 263 

expiring notes, into strains lengthened, lofty, sublime, 
and then dying away again, into touching, plaintive, 
tender accents that swept the tense chords of the heart, 
as with the ethereal fingers of an angel's hand. It was 
like the sounds borne to the listener on a bland, sum- 
mer evening, by the successive waves of the atmosphere, 
swelling up from the hidden vale below, and bearing to 
the ear the songs of an army or the rejoicings of a 
great multitude, such as the apocalyptic seer heard and 
saw, in the overpowering visions of Patmos : or, like 
the thunder-song of the rolling surf, pealing upon the 
echoing shore in the night-time: now faint ; now loud ; 
now uttered in the voice of the tempest ; now gently, 
softly whispered in the breeze. Such music once heard, 
can never be forgotten. It has its echo which can be 
waked in the heart, by the magical touch of association, 
or by the creative power of the imagination, through 
all the after-periods of a man's life. I was riveted to 
the marble pavement, and stood still, in almost breath- 
less silence beneath the vaulted, fretted roof; and un- 
der a trembling, intense excitement, that made the heart 
ache, and throb. The charm bound me, and I felt un- 
willing to break the spell. 

From the interior, filled with thousands of spectators, 
and worshippers, I ascended to the top of the roof, and 
thence to the gallery of the octagon tower, more than 
three hundred feet above the pavement of the church 
below, from which I had a view, not surpassed by that 
from the dome of Saint Peter's, or from the top of the 
cathedral in Florence. But that which most attracted 
and fixed my attention, was the roof of the church 
itself. It is unlike anything else of the sort in the 
world. The open tracery in snowy marble ; the towers, 
with niches filled with statuary, and the lofty pinnacles 



264 RANIX)M SKETCHES AND . 

shooting up with an airy lightness, surmounted with im- 
ages of saints and apostles ; and the most delicate 
ornamental work, embellishing the whole ; presenting 
to the eye the more full realization of the petrified city ; 
or rather, of a neat, compact, and beautiful village, as 
seen from this point, where the shrubbery, and lofty, 
branching trees in fill summer foliage; the bursting 
buds, and expanded flowers, roses, camelias, japonicas, 
and the more delicate snow-drop, violet, and pink, to- 
gether with the frolicksome children and the beautiful 
damsels, the blooming young men in life's full prime, 
and the more aged parents, had all been converted into 
marble. But this can give the reader but a faint con- 
ception of the cathedral. It can not be so described in 
words, or by the pencil, as to give any one an accurate 
conception of it. Some have expressed disappointment 
on seeing this vast and splendid building. It did not 
meet their expectations. For myself I can say, that it 
has far surpassed any conception I had previously form- 
ed of it. Nearly five hundred years have elapsed since 
the foundation stone of this Duomo was laid by the 
hands of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, and it is not yet 
completed. In all that time there have been scaffolds 
for the workmen, around the unfinished edifice. The 
work is still progressing. Perhaps it never will be 
entirely completed according to all the minuti^ of the 
plan. 

It is calculated that the niches and pinnacles of the 
exterior alone, will require four thousand five hundred 
statues to fill them ; while only about three thousand 
have been completed, and fitted to their respective po- 
sitions. Well may it be likened to a petrified city, 
since its population in statues is numbered by thou- 
sands. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 265 

The following are the principal dimensions as fur- 
bished by the guides : Extreme length, 485 English feet ; 
breadth of body, 252 feet ; between the ends of the 
transepts, 287 feet ; height of the crown of the vault- 
ing in the nave from the pavement, 153 feet ; height 
from the pavement to the top of the statue of the Ma- 
donna, which crowns the spire, 355 feet. Fifty-two 
pillars, each formed by a cluster of eight shafts, sup- 
port the pointed arches, on which the roof rests, the 
total height of each pillar of the nave and chancel 
being eighty feet. 

" The ground plan of the Duomo is a Latin cross, 
terminated by an apsis in the form of five sides of an 
octagon. The body is divided into a nave and four 
aisles, by four ranges of colossal, clustered pillars, with, 
nine inter-columniations. The transepts and the chancel 
are divided into three aisles. The vaultingl* of the 
roof spring at once from the pillars ; hence arises an 
appearance of great loftiness. The roof is painted in 
elaborate fretwork." — Murraijs Guide. 

But, as before observed, no descriptions in words, or 
representations in painting or engraving, will give any 
one an accurate conception of the cathedral. I speak 
of it as a whole ; and as such I have viewed it. It 
would require a large volume to furnish a detailed de- 
scription of every part, and an historical sketch of the 
edifice from its foundation till the present time. 

Eight o"^ clock P. M., same date. — The Brera gallery 
of paintings and statuary is always embraced in the 
catalogue of places put down for the visiter at Milan. 
It is not altogether devoid of interest, and yet there is 
nothing that a traveller, who has visited the galleries 
in Rome and Florence, might not miss seeing without 
any very great loss. Somo of the paintings are deei- 



Z'y.) RAMK)M SKETCHES AxM) 

dedlj fine. It would, indeed, be strange if this were not 
so, in a gallery that numbers about four hundred and 
fifty different subjects; but there are comparatively few 
pieces by the first-class artists. The statuary is perhaps 
better than the paintings, but there is scarcely anything 
here, that is not seen, either in the originals or in quite 
as good copies, in other places. 

The city of Milan is attractive in itself. The streets 
are wider than in most of the cities in southern Italy 
and are well paved. The houses are well built and 
present a fine appearance. There are but few fountains 
and public squares, but there are some beautiful drives 
and promenades on the outskirts of the city. The 
population seems to be of rather an elegant and refined 
class. The people dress well, and seem to conduct 
themselves with great propriety of behavior. They are 
courteous and polite to strangers, and all that one sees 
is adapted to make a favorable impression upon a 
stranger sojourning temporarily in the city. The whole 
circuit of country surrounding the city appears to be 
in a prosperous and thrifty condition. The view, as 
presented from the gallery of the octagon tower of the 
cathedral is decidedly fine. On the south and east the 
eye is greeted with the fruitful and lovely plain of 
Lombardy extending away to the Po, and beyond to 
the base of the Apennines ; while on the north and 
west, the Alpine ranges, glittering in eternal snow, 
bound the view, and enclose a most enchanting section 
of country, inlaid with beautiful lakes, and sparkling 
with running streams. If the influence of liberal in- 
stitutions and a less despotic government could be shed 
upon this country, it would flourish like a well-watered 
garden, and resound with the songs of a happy popu- 
lation. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 267 

Milan, May 2. — This morning I enjoyed a most 
delightful drive around the Boulevards of the city. 
The sky was perfectly clear ; the air cool and bracing, 
and everything wore a cheerful and happy aspect after 
the gloomy and rainy day we had on yesterday. The 
lofty summits of the Alps, crowned with deep, untrodden 
snow, were glittering in the morning sunlight, while the 
chestnut-trees, planted in long rows on each side of the 
Boulevards, were clothed in the broad foliage of sum- 
mer. We drove to the arena, which is a modern struct- 
ure, and in point of area surpasses even the Coliseum. 
The diameter is more than seven hundred feet. It has 
ten rows of circular seats, and can accommodate thirty 
thousand persons. It is used for great public exhibi- 
tions on state occasions ; and it is so arranged that the 
arena can be filled with water, and used for mimic 
naval exploits. The difference between this arena and 
the ancient amphitheatres is in the number of seats ; 
and the absence in this, of the underground, or, rather 
sub-mural corridors, passages, and apartments. The 
outer walls of the arena, are not one fifth as high as 
those of the Coliseum, or even of the amphitheatre at 
Yerona. It, however, has large capacity, and is well 
adapted to the purposes for which it was designed. 

The Arch of Peace near the Porta Orientale, is a 
very fine superstructure. It is built of white marble, 
and surmounted with a figure of Peace, with the olive- 
branch in her hand, standing in a noble car drawn by 
six horses. On each angle of the arch there are four 
figures of Fame, mounted on fine bronze steeds that look 
as though they were in the act of leaping from the top 
of the arch to the ground. The figures of Fame, each 
holding in her hand a beautiful wreath, are designed as 
heralds to announce the approach of Peace^ There aro 



268 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

also a number of bas-reliefs on the pedestals, and en- 
tablatures of the columns, representing battles, confer- 
ences, and capitulations. Altogether it i& a fine and 
imposing triumphal arch, though it has not escaped 
criticism in its minor details ; but what work, public 
building, column, or arch, has been universally pro- 
nounced perfect and faultless ? 

Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper^ painted upon the 
wall of the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, 
is visited by every traveller who stops for a single day 
at Milan. This celebrated painting, a copy of which, 
in one form or another, everybody has seen, has been 
pronounced one of the finest in the world. In its pres- 
ent marred and faded state, it is certainly impossible 
to tell what it was when fresh from the hands of the 
celebrated artist. I sat before it for some time, and 
looked at it, and read all the guide-books said about it, 
but was not able to work myself up to the point of ex- 
travagant admiration expressed by some travellers in 
its contemplation. The head and face of Christ are 
certainly inimitable ; the other figures are so defaced, 
and the whole picture so flawed, faded, and injured, that 
I could form no opinion as to what they had been. It 
is said that this painting l>as frequently been retouched, 
by artists of no ability, and in this way has suffered 
very much. The whole history of this wonderful pic- 
ture, about which so much has been written, is curious 
and interesting ; but it would fill several pages to fur- 
nish even a synopsis of its history ; and it is presumed 
that all readers of books of travel are familiar with it. 

The Amhrosian Library^ founded by Cardinal Fede- 
rigo Borromeo in 1609, contains about one hundred 
thousand printed volumes, and a most valuable collec- 
tion of manuscripts. In a hasty visit of a few hours 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 269 

one can see but little of tins vast collection of books, 
and on retiring from the library apartments he only re- 
members that he has seen a large collection of volumes, 
carefully packed away in cases ; some leaving the marks 
of age ; some comparatively new ; some bound in 
leather ; others in boards ; some large ; some small. 
Of the manuscripts he remembers the admiration excited 
by the elegant manner in which they are executed, and 
wonders how it was possible, with the hand, and an old 
gray goosequill, on parchment or vellum, to do such 
work, on so large and extensive a scale. In this libra- 
ry I saw a beautiful manuscript copy of Virgil copied, 
and annotated by Petrarch. There is a neatly- written 
note prefixed to this manuscript, in which Petrarch is 
supposed — of course it is a mere conjecture — to de- 
scribe his first interview with Laura, who became an 
object of almost idolatrous devotion with the poet. 
There is also here, a translation of Livy into Italian, 
by Boccaccio ; and a manuscript letter of Lucretia Bor- 
gia, written to Cardinal Bembo. Heads of sermons by 
San Carlo ; fragments of Homer, of the fourth century ; 
Josephus translated into Latin, by Rufinus, upon papy- 
rus ; besides a large volume of drawings by Leonardo 
da Vinci, and a very fine and early copy of Dante. 
These manuscripts are preserved with great care. The 
most rare and valuable being laid open in glass cases, 
and locked up, so that they may be seen and examined, 
but not handled. The same precaution, with regard to 
valuable manuscripts, is observed at the Laurentian 
Library in Florence. 

Connected with this library there is a gallery con- 
taining some valuable paintings, and a valuable collec- 
tion of natural and historical curiosities. Among other 
objects specially deserving notice is Raphael's original 



270 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

cartoon of " The School of Athens," from which the 
fresco in the Vatican was executed. It is done with 
black chalk on gray paper, and contains the figures 
only, without the architecture. There is also here a 
profile likeness of Leonardo da Yinci, executed by him- 
self in red chalk. 

Near sunset, again, this evening I turned my foot- 
steps to the cathedral for a parting visit. Yespers were 
going on when I entered the church, and the sublime 
strains of music were again resounding through the 
vaulted ceiling, and reverberating among the columns, 
and along the arches of this glorious temple. I paid 
the stated fee of admittance to the roof and tower, and 
hastened up, that I might see the sun set from the high- 
est point. The ascent is long and tedious ; but not dif- 
ficult. Steps upon the flying buttresses present an easy 
ascent to the different levels ; and two staircases, 
winding up turrets of open tracery, conduct the weary 
feet to the platform of the octagon tower ; thence a 
similar staircase in the spire leads to the open gallery 
at the foot of the pyramid that crowns the liighest point 
of ascent. Having reached this point, a boundless and 
glorious prospect is unrolled before the eye. The veil 
that shrouded the more distant objects on yesterday was 
lifted up ; the atmosphere was clear, and the horizontal 
beams of the setting sun threw a flood of mellow, golden 
light over the whole expanse of vision, stretching from 
the Alps to the Apennines, and eastward, far away over 
the lovely plains of Lombard}- , as far as the eye could 
reach. The light and shade playing upon the snow- 
capped peaks of the Alps, developed some of the most 
enchanting pictures, throwing them upon the canvass in 
the most delicate tints and hues ; blending all the colors 
of the rainbow, and drawing the vanishing lines with 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 271 

the hair-strokes of Nature's pencil, dipped in tiie dyes 
of heaven. The plain of Lombardy, presenting a slightly 
undulating surface, was not altogether unlike the bosom 
of the sea ; the foliage of the trees catching the depart- 
ing sunlight, answering to the rolling billows, and the 
white houses, glancing out from the ocean of green, not 
unlike 

" The snowy bosom of the swan, 
That rises graceful o'er the wave." 

From this high point of observation the Simplon pass 
of the Alps could easily be distinguished ; while Monte 
Rosa, crowned with snow that never dissolves, clearly 
developed the rosy hues in the departing sunlight, from 
which it takes its name. Mount Cenis, too, was seen 
lifting its head far away toward the sunset ; while on 
the intervening spaces, canals, rivers, lakes, and ponds, 
were seen shining in the vanishing sunbeams like molt- 
en masses of incandescent metal, glowing with the lu- 
minous heat of the furnace. 

In my note-book, I wrote as follows : ^' I am now 
seated upon the highest part of the roof of the great 
cathedral of Milan. The broad, rounded disk of the 
sun goes down behind the snowy Alps. The chime of 
bells from the church-towers in every direction fills the 
evening air, and the dying din of the city rises faintly 
to my ear. Quietness reigns around me. A few visi- 
ters linger about the roof, and upon the gallery of the 
octogon tower of the cathedral, enjoying, like myself, 
the view from this elevated position at sunset. Hun- 
dreds and even thousands of statues are looking down 
upon me. All the apostles and all the saints of the 
calendar are watchers on the towers of the cathedral. 
My heart is oppressed with the grandeur, solemnity, and 
impressivencss of all that surrounds me. 



272 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

There is the voice of the custode of the church, ringing 
out in the still evening air, as he rambles along the mar- 
ble roof, calling to the visiters to descend, and warning 
all that the church-doors are soon to be closed. I must 
away." 

To-morrow is another church festival. Great prepara- 
tions are making for it, in the adornment of the cathe- 
dral. " Pendant in the vaulting of the octagon over 
the altar, is a reliquary, said to contain one of the nails 
of the cross, which annually, on the feast of the inven- 
tion of the cross, 3d of May, is exposed upon the 
altar, and carried in solemn procession through the 
city." 

It is growing late at night. To-morrow morning 
early we shall leave for Como. My visit to Milan has 
been pleasant, and the impressions which I have receiv- 
ed are all favorable. Milan is a delightful city. Its 
streets are clean, and exceedingly handsome. There is 
a peculiarity in the pavement. Parallel rows of broad, 
smooth, flat stones are laid down at a suitable width for 
carriage-wheels to run on, and in driving through the 
streets, the movement of the veliicle is as even and quiet 
as if it were running over a polished marble floor. There 
is none of that rattling and jostling which is common 
almost everywhere else. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 273 



CHAPTER XIX. 

FROM MILAN TO GENEVA. 

Lake Como. — Excursion. — Scenery on the Lake. — Ride to Varese 

— Processions of Roman Catholics. — A Pony Ride to a Convent 

— Lake Maggiore. — Pallanza. — Diligence to Domo d'Osolo. — 
Fine Singing by Peasant-Girls. — Ascent of the Alps. — Breig. — - 
Diligence down the Valley of the Rhone. — Face of the Country. — 
Population. — Culture. — Martigny. — Approach to Lake Geneva. 

— Castle of Chillon. — Vevay. 

Varese, May 3. — The sun lias just gone down. 
His resplendent beams still linger on the heaven-point- 
ing peaks of the mountains, sheathed in eternal snow, 
while the valleys are veiled in darkness below. Deli- 
cate tints of all colors, soft and exquisite as the paint- 
ing of a flower, flitting in ever-varying hues from sky to 
mountain, and from mountain to sky ; the rosy twilight 
deepens into purple and sombre gray, and the night 
banners, bespangled with stars, brilliant and sparkling, 
are beginning to unroll along the azure vault of heaven. 
This is a sweet and lovely hour — an hour that gives 
wings to thoughts, and sends them abroad, like the 
dove from the ark, over a boundless sea, seeking some 
spot on which to rest the weary wing. Mine have 
soared beyond the Alps, and traversed the broad ex- 
panse of the Atlantic, and nestled for awhile in the 
little dovecote called home — more dear to me than all 

12* 



274 RANDOM SXETCHES AND 

the world beside. In all my rovings, however my time 
may be occupied, or whatever objects may engage my 
attention, there are moments when my thoughts break 
away from all that is around me, and with electric 
speed seek the hearts that love me most, and beat 
in response to my own at home. But I must drop a 
theme which is too tender for me to dwell on, and turn 
to subjects less personal to myself, and of more general 
interest to the reader. 

We left Milan this morning at an early hour, by 
rail, for Como, where we took a small steamboat, and 
spent the most of the day upon the lake and at Bel- 
laggio, one of those delightful and beautiful places 
that skirt this charming sheet of water, embosomed in 
the mountains. Travellers have so frequently describ- 
ed Lake Como, and said so much in its praise, that al- 
most every one knows something of its locality and its 
charms. It lies nearly north of Milan, about twenty 
miles distant, and is entirely environed by high moun- 
tains, some of which are crowned with snow nearly all 
the year. It is not a broad sheet of water, but narrow, 
varying in breadth, I should think, from a quarter of a 
mile to a mile, and is forty miles in length. Its course is 
tortuous, so that one can not see more than two or three 
miles at any one view ; thus it presents to the eye of 
the voyager, rather a succession of small lakes, set, 
like beautiful gems, in a splendid framework, than the 
aspect of one continuous lake. The turns are frequent- 
ly abrupt, so that it appears to terminate just ahead, 
but presently the boat rounds a point, and another 
lovely view opens before the eye. Along the shore 
there is a succession of small towns and villages, nest- 
ling in the little coves along the water's brink, while 
ever and anon, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 275 

*' Looks out the white-walled cottage here, 
The lowly chapel rising near," 

twinkling like snow-clrops, in the midst of the green 
foliage of the terraced gardens, or peeping coyly O'lt 
from a hidden dell, or deep ravine, where the snow- 
fomitains sparkle and foam over the rocks, and leap in 
silvery cascades into the bright clear waters of the lake 
below. The scenery on the lake is not altogether un- 
like that of the Hudson river, in the wilder and more 
picturesque parts of that noble stream. Lake Como, 
in fact, combines all the beauties of both a river and a 
lake. It has the windings, and apparent meanderings 
of the river, and the even, moss-covered, and verdure- 
clad margin of the mountain lake. 

Bellaggio stands on the promontory that divides the 
southern extremity of the lake into two great arms, 
which engirdle the base of the mountains; and just in 
the rear of the village, which occupies a narrow, level 
slip of land immediately on the edge of the water, a 
lofty hill rises up to a considerable elevation, covered 
with the finest forest growth that anywhere skirts the 
lake. This hill is terraced from its base to its highest 
point, and made easy of ascent by winding paths, 
paved with small round pebbles, and arched with living 
verdure, and fringed with delicately-trimmed shrub- 
bery, and flowers on trellis-work, and rustic bowers. 
At various points in the ascent, there are parapets, 
walled up, on the brink of yawning precipices, com- 
manding the most lovely and picturesque views of the 
lake and the circumjacent mountain-scenery. At other 
points large tunnels are cut through the rocks — not in 
straight lines, but in curves, with smaller tunnels 
diverging at different angles, each one opening upon an 
enchanting view on the farther side of one or the other 



276 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the arms of the lake. These tunnels end on abrupt 
steeps, rising hundreds of feet above the water, where 
one may stand, and feast the eye upon unsurpassed 
scenes of beauty and grandeur, combined in pictures 
which imprint themselves on the mind, never to be for- 
gotten. We finally reached the point of highest ele- 
vation, where we sat down, under the shadow of high 
trees, among the ruins of an old castle wall, and gave 
ourselves up to the dreamy influences of the hour and 
place. Here I wrote as follows : Twelve o'clock. — 
Seated upon a broken, crumbling wall, on a high point 
of a beautifully-terraced hill, overlooking Lake Como. 
The sunlight is streaming through the leafy roof above 
me, and shedding a soft and genial influence upon the 
green carpet of moss, gemmed with exquisitely painted 
flowers, at my feet. The merry notes of unnumbered 
birds are ringing in vesper-like sweetness overhead 
and around me. From some distant church-tower, the 
softest, sweetest chime of bells I have ever heard is 
stealing upon my ear. Beautiful vista views of lake 
and mountain are opening on every hand ; while the 
roar of a waterfall, rising and falling with the restless 
winds, fills the atmosphere with its wild, woodland 
music, blending soothingly with the drowsy murmur of 
the waves, dashing upon the rocks below. 

We descended by a succession of terraces on the 
other side of the hill, and rambled among flowers and 
orange groves, and along by rocky steeps, out of which 
great cactuses were growing in rank luxuriance : and 
where white and rose-colored camelias were unfoldins: 
their bloom and beauty ; and under great arches of 
jagged, unhewn rocks, spanning the entrance to dark 
and gloomy grottoes, and beside little mimic lakes, 
where gold fish sported in the shining waters. All 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 2TT 

this work has been done at the expense of a nobleman, 
of princely fortune, who spends but little of his time 
among the charming scenes which he has created for 
the eyes and enjoyment of others. And this delight- 
ful place is but one of many that borders the shores of 
Lake Como. 

At five o'clock in the evening we reached Como, and 
took vetturini for Varese, on our way to Lake Maggi- 
ore, lying about thirty miles west of Como. Our road 
this evening was over a pleasant section of the country ; 
the soil productive and finely cultivated. We saw a 
great many females engaged in field labor. Li passing 
a small town on the way, we met a procession of 
not less than a thousand or fifteen hundred persons, 
male and female, bearing crosses, and singing, most 
beautifully, some dirge-like music. The street was 
narrow, and completely canopied for two or three 
hundred yards, with long pieces of cloth stretched 
along, nearly as high as the eaves of the houses. This 
has been a great fete day with the Catholics in and 
about Milan, and the people of this little town and its 
vicinity, were taking their part in the exercises pre- 
scribed by the church for the occasion. A more motley 
mixture of persons, men, women, and children, I never 
saw. There was scarcely a well-dressed person among 
them. We took off our hats, as the cross-bearers 
passed our carriage ; for, we were compelled, though 
night was approaching, and we had several miles to 
travel, to stand still till the procession passed. The 
fete of to-day, is the " Invention of the Cross." De- 
scending from this town we enjoyed, just at sunset, a 
magnificent panoramic mountain and valley view, with 
villages, and churches, and convents, and finely-cul- 
tivated fields, encircled by mountains of various heights 



278 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

— the inner circles of which were overlooked by the 
towering, snow-covered summits of the Alps, that 
bomided the whole view on the north and west. The 
sun was out of sight, but his resplendent beams kindled 
into a blaze of golden light upon the tops of the moun- 
tains, and fringed the clouds that curtained his setting 
with lustrous hues, " beauteous as the tints of an an- 
gel's wing." We reached Varese at eight o'clock, and 
found lodgings at a pleasant hotel, where at a late 
hour of the night — all hushed and silent around me — 
I. write out these recollections of the day. 

Varese, Maj/4:. — The grand church festival of yester- 
day continues to-day. A vast procession, bearing cros- 
ses and crucifixes, has just passed the street under my 
v/indow. In these processions the women and little girls 
take the lead, singing in touching, mournful strains, as 
they move slowly along in double file. Those who do 
not join in singing, employ their time in repeating their 
ave-marias and pate^'nosters, numbering them on the 
strings of beads which they carry in their hands. On 
these church festivals the peasantry, from all the sur- 
rounding country, congregate in the towns, and form 
by far the larger portion of the processions which move 
through the streets. This fact accounts for the motley 
appearance of the crowds that throng the streets, in the 
coarse attire and strange costumes that always attract 
attention. 

Two 0^ clock P. M., same date. I have just returned 
from a visit, to what is known as the Santuario of the 
Virgin, called La Madonna del Monte, which is situ- 
ated on a very high hill, about five miles northwest of 
this city. The expedition was made by our party, a 
cheval. Each of us was mounted on a Rosinante, with 
a long-legged Italian for a driver. These fellows saw 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 279 

US mounted, and then commenced cracking their whips, 
and encouraging our ponies, with both words and blows, 
and put us off in full gallop from the hotel-door, and 
kept up the speed until we had threaded the streets, and 
were fully out in the country. These scenes are so 
familiar here that they attract no attention ; but in one 
of our cities they would bring everybody to the front- 
doors and windows, and produce no small amount of 
amusement and laughter by their novelty, and ludi- 
crousness. The last two miles of the ascent was diffi- 
cult and fatiguing. The road was crowded with people, 
and we met a long procession bearing crosses and cru- 
cifixes, like the one that passed the street this morning. 
The summit, which is crowned with a church and con- 
vent of Augustan nuns is approached by a zigzag road, 
along which, at longer and shorter spaces, are erected 
fourteen chapels, which are said to represent the four- 
teen mysteries of the Rosary ! namely ; the mysteries 
of joy, the mysteries of grief, and the mysteries of 
glory ! ! 

The view from the convent is exceedingly fine. The 
whole plain of Lombardy as far as the Apennines ; the 
higher and lower Alps and several lakes are all com- 
manded from this point of observation. We surveyed 
the premises ; saw the trinkets exposed for sale ; got 
a glass of water from the nuns of the convent, which 
was conveyed to us by a revolving cylinder, without 
exposing our benefactress to our view, and then made 
a rapid descent to the hotel, entering the city in the 
same style in which we left it. 

Pallanza, May 5, one o'clock P. M. — I am now 
seated in a room immediately upon the shore of Lake 
Maggiore, with my door open, through which I can look 
out upon the whole southern portion of the lake, witii 



280 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Isola Bella and Isola Madre, the two beautiful Borro- 
mean islands, in full view, and not remote from me. In 
an hour or so, our party leaves by diligence for Domo 
d'Osolo, en route for the Simplon. In the meanwhile 
I will occupy my time in writing. 

This morning we left Yarese at an early hour, and 
had a pleasant drive of two or three hours, to Lavino 
on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore. There is no 
more delightful country in all Italy than that lying 
between Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and extending 
down to Milan. At Lavino we engaged a small boat 
for our party with four strong oarsmen, to make the 
excursion to the Borromean islands, and thence to this 
town, where we are to take diligence for the regions 
beyond the Alps. First, we rowed across the lake some 
seven or eight miles to Isola Bella, where we visited 
the palace of the Borromeo family and the gardens 
which surround it. The paintings presented a limited 
variety, compared with what is seen in other palaces, 
and none of special merit. So of the statuary. We 
were shown through a great many apartments, some 
of which, on the lower floor, were curious and novel 
in their construction and decorations. In one of these 
Napoleon Bonaparte dined ; in another room we were 
shown the bed in which the emperor slept. The gar- 
dens are exceedingly fine. They abound with magnolia, 
orange, citron, and pomegranate trees, and all sorts of 
flowering shrubs, with almost every flower of every 
clime. From Isola Bella, we next visited Isola Madre, 
some two miles distant, which has no other attraction 
than its lovely gardens and grounds. Here we rambled 
under arches of living verdure, impervious to the sun- 
beams at mid-day, and inhaled the fragrance exhaled 
from the blooming rhododendron, the far-scentod mag- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 281 

nolia, and a perfect wilderness of peonies, camelias, and 
a thousand other fragrant shrubs and flowers that 
bloomed around. Pheasants and pigeons as large as 
chickens, and various other kinds of birds and fowls, 
were cooing and croaking and singing, among the trees 
and along the walks. There are many elements of 
beauty and interest combined in the delightful gardens 
and grounds of Isola Madre. 

Lake Maggiore is larger than Como, but it is less 
bold and romantic in its surrounding scenery. It is 
nevertheless a most charming lake. It is now as smooth 
and quiet as a sea of glass. A number of little boats 
are dotting its surface, and breaking, here and there, 
the polished mirror into myriads of fragments that 
sparkle and glisten in the sunlight, like shivered glass, 
each particle reflecting an image of its own. Tlie 
shadows of tte hills and mountains are distinctly re- 
flected upon its crystal waters, while the verdurous 
islands, with their endless variety of trees, rise like 
emerald gems upon its bosom. Sweet and beautiful 
MaTcriore 1 To change the theme : I have just enjoyed 
a delightful repast, in which I did ample justice to the 
delicious fish just taken from the lake ; better I never 
ate. 

But the diligence is ready, and I am called away to 
take my place. By daylight to-morrow morning we 
shall be at the liighest point of the Simplon, where I 
hope to enjoy a sunrise amid the snows and heaven- 
cleaving pinnacles of the Alps. 

Martigny, Switzerland^ May Q^ 1856. — Since the 
last entry in my journal, we have travelled about one 
hundred and twenty-five miles, by diligence, amid some 
of the sublimest mountain scenery of northwestern 
Italy, and of eastern Switzerland. Leaving Pallanza, 



282 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

our course was up the valley of the Torsa, a distance 
of twenty-five miles to Donio d'Osolo. The mountains 
enclosed the road along* which we travelled, shooting 
up their wild and pointed summits, crowned with snow, 
in every direction, and apparently presenting impassable 
barriers to our progress. The villages and towns were 
numerous on the way, but of little consequence, and 
ihQ population appeared to be of the poorest class. 
The women were seen at every turn, engaged in out- 
door work : digging, planting, driving oxen, and per- 
forming the most arduous and toilsome service that, 
in our own country, devolves on the men. Young- 
women were often seen in large companies, with great 
panniers that were as large as a flour-barrel, strapped 
upon their backs and shoulders, carrying heavy burdens 
of manure, grass, wood, and rubbish ; actually per- 
forming the service rendered by the donkeys in other 
parts of Italy. I saw these girls standing by piles 
of mcmifi'e, while others were engaged in filling the 
baskets on their backs, just as a laborer with us would 
throw a load into a cart-body. And we saw at one 
time, a dozen of these girls, bearing donkey-loads, 
walking along under their burdens, and singing in a 
style that would have brought down rounds of applause 
in a concert-hall in America. One of the best voices 
I have ever heard, was from one of these hard-working 
girls, with a basket lashed upon her shoulders, walking 
along the road a few miles this side of Pallanza on 
yesterday afternoon. There were at least ten of them 
singing in concert. The voice which so particularly 
attracted my attention was full, rich, soft, and most 
admirably adapted, to the second which she sustained 
in the piece they were singing. There was also a 
bass voice scarcely less elegant, and captivating than 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 283 

the one which so especially attracted my attention : Ml 
the parts were fully sustained, and the whole piece per- 
formed in a style of execution that I have rarely ever 
heard equalled, certainly never excelled ; and that too 
by a parcel of sunburnt, hard-featured, and coarsely- 
clad Italian girls, who were actually performing the 
drudgery of donkeys. We reached Domo d'Osolo at 
eight o'clock in the evening; got supper, and prepared 
for the ascent of the Alps and the passage of the Sini- 
plon. Extra clothing w^as put on ; comforts and shawls 
taken out ; overshoes adjusted to the feet, and all 
needful precautions adopted to guard against the polar 
cold of the high Alps. 

There being a large number of passengers, it so 
turned out that our little party were all thrown together 
in a small post-carriage which was very comfortable. 
At ten o'clock, the cavalcade, composed of diligences, 
post-carriages, baggage-wagons, etc., rattled through the 
streets of Domo d'Osolo, which is situated at the head 
of the valley up which we had travelled from Lake 
Maggiore, and commenced at once the ascent of the 
Simplon. For several miles our road lay right along 
upon the banks of a roaring mountain stream that foam- 
ed and dashed among the rocks beneath us, while the 
dizzy heights of jagged, frowming mountains towered 
high above us. Nothing could be more romantic and 
grand than this part of the ascent. Lights occasionally 
were seen gleaming out from the humble homes of the 
hardy mountaineers, clinging to the sides of the steep 
and precipitous hills ; the white waters w^ere raging 
among the boulders in the bed of the stream far beneath 
us, at times so low", that scarce a murmur of their tur- 
moil reached the ear upon the elevated ledge along 
which the road w^ound its tortuous ascent ; and then. 



284 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

far away above all, the bright stars twinkled in the 
mysterious depths of the azure vault, like the loving, 
watchful eyes of good angels looking down upon us. 
Higher and higher we ascended, until we began to reach 
the snow-drifts, piled up in the mountain defiles, the 
cold growing more and more intense. About two 
o'clock in the night our horses balked in an unremoved 
portion of an avalanche that partly obstructed the 
way, and backed the carriage upon the very brink of 
an awful precipice, over which we ran the fearful haz- 
ard of being dashed into the dark abyss below ; and 
most probably we should have gone quite over but for the 
timely intervention of strong armed men, whom the 
conductor of the diligences had had the forethought to 
employ to aid us in the ascent. At three o'clock we 
reached a strong rock-built house of entertainment, 
just upon the borders of the snow, where we got some 
refreshments, and at half-past four, after the break of 
day, we took the sledges, to which four strong horses — 
one before the other — were attached, and began the far- 
ther ascent, amid the snow that became deeper and still 
deeper at every step. At sunrise, we were nearing the 
most elevated portion of the Simplon pass ; and a scene 
of grandeur and sublimity presented itself, such as I 
had never conceived of in all my imaginings of the mag- 
nificence of the Alps. A boundless wilderness of un- 
broken snow, except where the thundering avalanche had 
made its path, covered the whole face of nature. Not 
a shrub was seen, and only now and then a dark rock, 
swept by the mountain blasts, peered above the waste 
of snow. The road was covered to the depth of 
ten or fifteen feet, and frequently the walls of snow 
mounted eight or ten feet above our horses and sled. 
The cold was severe and pinching ; and thus we contin- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 285 

ued for about four hours, until we reached the Hospice 
on the top of the pass, at which point we began to 
descend. We saw some of the Saint Bernard dogs at 
the Hospice. In the descent, for the first half hour or 
so, we came to places where scores of persons were en- 
gaged in removing the portions of avalanches which had 
lodged upon the road; and it was with difficulty and 
great hazard that we got over some of those obstruc- 
tions. Finally we reached the point where the snow 
disappeared, and we again got into the diligence, and 
commenced a rapid descent, and soon were in sight of 
Breig, a town on the Rhone, which marks the foot of the 
Simplon pass on the Switzerland side. The town look- 
ed as though it were but a few stones' cast from us, and 
yet we had to travel twelve or fifteen miles to reach it. 

This is a wonderful road. It was built by Napoleon 
Bonaparte between 1800 and 1804. But it has been so 
frequently described, that I shall not stop to notice it. 

We got breakfast at Breig, and left again at eleven 
o'clock, for Martigny. The road from Breig to Mar- 
tigny is down the valley of the Rhone, the whole way, 
a distance of something more than fifty miles. The 
wliole route is walled in by high mountains, with rocky 
sides, and at this season of the year capped with snow. 
The valley is narrow, not averaging more than half a 
mile in width, and a great portion of it covered with 
the boulders and water-worn rocks brought down from 
the mountains. The soil is not very .productive, and 
nothing but a scene of barrenness and sterility meets 
the eye. There is a stern grandeur about the rugged 
sides and rocky summits of the mountains. A few 
poor-looking farmhouses are scattered along the val- 
ley, and occasionally a small village is seen perched 
upon the rocks, or coyly peeping out from a nook at the 



28(3 RANDOM SP^ETCEJES AND 

basG of the moiuitains. Lower down the valley, as we 
approached Martigiiy, there was some improvement in 
tlie face of the country. The valley became more pro- 
ductive, and vineyards began to appear, with here and 
there a better class of houses, and occasionally a larger 
and more interesting town. From Sion to Martigny the 
road traverses a fine portion of the valley of the Rhone. 
The road is perfectly straight for eight or ten miles, and 
the valley is in the form of a parallelogram, walled in 
by high, snow-covered mountains. Martigny, where I 
now write, is a small town, with some good hotels, 
furnishing a resting-place, and agreeable accommoda- 
tions for the traveller between Geneva and the Sim- 
plon ; and, especially, to the weary traveller, who like 
myself, has come all the way from Lake Maggiore, over 
the Simplon, without stopping for repose. 

Vevay, May 7. — This is a pleasant little town, of 
five thousand inhabitants, on the northern shore of 
Lake Geneva. From the tower of our hotel (^Hotel des 
Trois Conronnes}, there is a fine view of the lake, and 
of the towns and villages, with the background of 
mountains, that skirt the shore. Villeneuve, which 
occupies a site on the eastern extremity of the lake, 
the Castle of Chillon, the Hotel de Byron, the village 
of Ciarens, and the Castle of Bornay, are all taken in 
at a single glance. The Castle of Chillon furnished 
the theme of a fine poem from the pen of Lord Byron ; 
and the village of Ciarens is the place at which Rous- 
seau located his novel of Heloise. The scenery all 
around this portion of the lake has been made the sub- 
ject of some of the finest poems by such authors as 
Rogers, Byron, Mrs. Hemans, and others of high ce- 
lebrity in the literary world. 

This is the most beautiful Dart cf ^' Lake Leman." 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 287 

The mountains arc much higher here than at the other 
end of the lake, and the towns, villages, and cottages, 
which skirt the shore occupy more lovely and romantic 
situations. 

Protestantism prevails in this canton, and everything 
wears an air which reminds an American of his own 
land of civil and religious freedom. The people are 
intelligent, and their habits and customs much more 
like our own than anything I have seen for the last two 
months. 

We left Martigny this morning by diligence at an 
early hour, and travelled all the way to this place — 
abouty thirty-five miles — through the rain. The road 
lies along the valley of the Rhone, and most of the dis- 
tance upon the banks of the river. We found this 
portion of the valley far superior to that above Mar- 
tigny. The soil is far better, and everything wears a 
more thrifty and prosperous appearance. The moun- 
tains are not so bare and rocky, and the dwellings are 
of a much better class. 

The approach to the Lake of Geneva is fine, but it 
improves after passing yilleneuve, as the road begins 
to wind along the northern shore among the lovely 
cottages and villages that present themselves in rapid 
succession at every turn. The Castle of Chillon is a 
gloomy old establishment, now occupied as a military 
magazine, but is courteously shown to visiters. The 
little island alluded to in Byron's " Prisoner of Chillon" 
is marked by a single tree — the only green thing that 
breaks the bosom of the dark blue waters of the lake 
from one end to the other. The castle stands in the 
edge of the lake, and is nearly surrounded by water ; 
it is reached by a wooden bridge, and is within a 
stone's throw of Iho road. 



288 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Clarens stands a little back from the shore of the 
lake, on an eminence that is sheltered by a high moun- 
tain, from which one of the best views of the beautiful 
scenery spread out on every hand is obtained. The 
high mountains and rocky steeps of Savoy that run up 
close to the shore on the other side of the lake, with the 
quiet little towns and country-seats, whose image is 
reflected on the waters ; and the gardens, vineyards, 
cottages, and villages, that lie along the winding margin 
on the side next to Clarens, are all so grouped as to be 
taken in at a single glance of the eye. It is not sur- 
prising that Byron and Rousseau and others should 
speak of this place in such terms of admiration and 
praise. 

This portion of Lake Geneva — the northeastern 
shore, sheltered under high mountains, with quiet and 
secluded coves, and dells, and shaded vales retreating 
from the shore — is a place of great resort during the 
summer. Many of the cottages are owned by English 
gentlemen, and everything wears an English air. The 
gardens, grounds, and houses, are all English. 

The clouds have passed away. The sun went down 
in a clear, burnished sky, leaving a trail of light dan- 
cing over the waters of the lake, and painting beauti- 
ful hues of rose and crimson upon the snow-capt moun- 
tains. The night is lovely. The bright, brilliant stars 
are looking down upon their own images on the glassy 
surface of the lake, while light, laughing, silvery waves 
are singing along upon the pebbly beech under my 
window. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 289 



CHAPTER XX . 

GENEVA. 

The Lake. — European Scenery Compared with American. — Ap- 
proach to Geneva. — Hotel. — Rainy Weather. — Dr. Merle d'Au- 
bigne. — His Influence. — Manufacture of Watches and Jewelry. — 
Singing Bird. — Visit to Dr. Merle d'Aubignc at his Villa La Grav- 
eline. — Theological Schools. — Strolls about Geneva. — Views from 
the Hills. — Calvin. — Servetus. — Rousseau. — Picture Gallery. — 
Disappointment. — Swans. — Lausanne. — Hotel Gibbon. — Lord 
Byron's Prisoner of Chillon. 

Geneva, May 8. — This morning at eight o'clock we 
left Yevay by one of the steamers that plies regularly, 
every day, between Geneva and Yilleneuve — the two 
towns occupying the opposite extremities of the lake, 
touching at all the intermediate towns on the northern 
shore. We had a large number of passengers, most of 
whom seemed to be bound for Geneva, though con- 
siderable numbers stopped by the way ; namely, at 
Ouchy, which is the port of Lausanne, Merges, Rolle, 
and other small towns that skirt the shore. 

The lake is really a fine sheet of water ; but like 
almost everything in Europe, about which a great deal 
has been said, in praise, by travellers, it has gained its 
reputation principally, from English writers, who speak 
of what is seen on the continent, in comparison with 
the scenery — mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, and 
skies of Great Britain. Too many of the American trav» 
ellers have adopted the views and opinions of English 



290 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

tourists, and thus we frequently have in a new book of 
travels, a mere repetition of v/hat has been said a hun- 
dred times by other writers. There are as fine lakes 
in America as can anywhere be found in Europe ; 
there are as beautiful skies and sunsets ; indeed, I 
very much doubt, whether any part of the world can 
furnish a parallel to our Indian summer, or present 
more resplendent and gorgeous sunsets than are seen in 
our country, especially in the month of October. We 
have mountains that vie with anything in Europe ex- 
cept the Alps ; and rivers that are unsurpassed by 
anything in the world ; while our primeval forests have 
nothing to equal them on the globe. Europe, in fact, 
is almost entirely bare of forests. This is one of the 
peculiarities that never fails to strike the Americaii 
traveller. In these remarks I am not to be understood 
as saying that there is not beautiful and enchanting 
scenery in Europe. Italy presents most lovely skies, 
and gem-like lakes, and brilliant sunsets. In Switzer- 
land there is the linest mountain scenery, perhaps, on 
the globe ; but I mean to say, that in America there 
is as much — indeed, I think, more natural beauty, 
than can be found on the continent of Europe. The 
great difference in the two countries lies in this, that 
the architectural element enters into and combines 
with the natural scenery of Europe, as it does not in 
America, and gives it a vast superiority in this regard. 
Old castles, gray with time, lifting their battlemented 
turrets amid the wildest mountain crags ; hoary monas- 
teries and convents perched upon almost inaccessible 
rocks ; venerable churches, with time-honored towers, 
clinging to the sides of bare and verdureless hills ; 
ancient palaces, carrying the mind back through long 
centuries to a high antiquity ; vast ^piles of ruins, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 291 

amid which a few dismantled columns rear their naked 
forms — sad and mournful monuments of what has 
been ; crumbling arches, overrun with vines and rank 
grasses ; and lofty tombs, marking the graves of 
monarchs, military chieftains, heroes, poets, and or- 
ators : all these combining with mountain, lake, val- 
ley, and river, give an interest and picturesque effect to 
much of the scenery of Europe that does not enter in- 
to that of our own country. Compared with the murky, 
smoky skies of England ; the humid atmosphere ; 
the straight lines of hedges ; the almost level surface 
of the country ; the small streams ; and millpond-like 
lakes, Switzerland and Italy are so infinitely superior,, 
that it is not a matter of surprise that English writers, 
of a keen susceptibility to the beautiful, and the sub- 
lime, should go into ecstacies over the lakes Como, 
Maggiore, Leman, and Lucerne, and exhaust the whole 
vocabulary of superlatives in their descriptions of 
Italian skies and landscapes. 

But to return — the lake of G eneva is a fine sheet of 
water about fifty miles long, and from four to nine 
miles in width. It is bordered by high mountains, and 
precipitous steeps, in the extreme eastern portions ; but 
in descending toward Geneva the shores become less 
wild and rugged, sloping off gradually to the mountains 
that stand at a greater distance ; furnishing extensive 
hillsides, with a southern exposure for vines, and fruit- 
trees, and garden-spots. 

The approach to Geneva is imposing. Rows of high 
fine houses stand near the wharves, while the city 
reaches back upon the hills, displaying its church spires 
and domes, and the more elevated public buildings and 
private residences, to great advantage. The Rhone, 
which enters the lake at its eastern extremity near Yille- 



292 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

neuve, again breaks away at Geneva, in a rapid cur- 
rent, whicli sweeps through the city, dividing it into 
nearly two equal parts, and darts forward as if proud 
of its release from a long confinement in the lake. Its 
waters here are perfectly transparent, but almost of an 
indigo blue. The stream is spanned by a number of 
bridges, crossing from one part of the city to another, 
which are used as streets, and are as much crowded 
with passengers as any of the business thoroughfares in 
Geneva. 

The Hotel de PEcu, at which I am stopping, stands 
just at the point where the river leaves the lake. The 
window of my room overlooks the stream, and opens 
upon a lovely view of the water scenery. The gas- 
lights, on the other side and along the bridges, are re- 
flected on the agitated bosom of the ever-rolling river ; 
the constant murmur of its waters is afloat upon the 
night-winds ; the din of the quiet, sober city has died 
into an echo ; weary and worn out with the fatiguing 
journey of the last few days across the Alps, T lay 
aside my pen, at a late hour of the night, to seek re- 
freshment in sleep. 

Map 10. — The weather has been rainy and cold for 
the last two days, and thus far we have seen but little 
of Geneva and its environs. Indeed, fine weather is 
indispensable to the enjoyment of the traveller in all 
parts of Switzerland. Beyond the scenery there is but 
little to attract attention, apart from the historical 
associations connected with many of the localities in 
this Alpine region. Geneva has a great deal of his- 
torical and literary interest connected with it. There 
is no one spot in Europe at this hour exerting a more 
powerful influence upon the literature and religion of 
this country than Geneva = I allude principally to a 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 293 

purifying, healthful, moral influence. There are fine 
institutions of learning here and in the surrounding 
country. There are eloquent and powerful preachers 
of a pure gospel, and men of might with the pen. No 
one man is doing more at this time, through the press, to 
purify the fountains of continental European literature 
than the justly-celebrated Dr. Merle d'Aubigne. Nor 
is there a man living who is doing as much as he for 
the spread of pure evangelism on the continent of Eu- 
rope. He is a man of enlarged and liberal views, and 
brings all the weight of his great talents to bear on the 
moral and religious improvement, not only of Switzer- 
land, but also of France and Germany. At present his 
health is such as disqualifies him for active pulpit la- 
bors to a great extent ; yet he occasionally preaches. 
But his pen is never idle. He is constantly at work to 
the full extent of his physical ability. He has accumu- 
lated a fine fortune, and lives in considerable style, just 
on the outskirts of Geneva. His residence occupies a 
beautiful situation, commanding a fine view of the lake, 
and combines everything that one could desire to ren- 
der it a choice and desirable place of abode. 

Geneva has of late years gained great celebrity as a 
place for the manufacture of watches, jewelry, music- 
boxes, and trinkets of every kind. There are said to 
be not less than four thousand persons engaged in this 
manufacture at present, producing one hundred thou- 
sand watches annually. There are more than fifty watch- 
makers' establishments, and not less than seventy jew- 
elers' workshops kept in constant operation in Geneva, 
working up annually, seventy-five thousand ounces of 
gold, five thousand marks of silver, and precious stones 
to the amount of a million of francs. Tiiis manufacture 
is under the surviellance of a vio-ilant committee of 



294 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

master-workmen, appointed by the government, whose 
duty it is to inspect every workshop, and to test every 
article made in them, to guard against fraud in the 
substitution of metals not of legal alloy. 

All the gold worked up must be of eighteen carats ; 
and the man who dares to use gold of a less number of 
carats, runs the risk of being heavily fined in the first 
instance, and in the second of having his doors closed, 
and his business arrested. In purchasing a watch there- 
fore in Geneva, one feels a security that he is not impos- 
ed upon by the mere color of the article ; he has a guar- 
anty that he is getting eighteen-carat gold, which 
perhaps, is rather better than is used anywhere else. 

The most ingenious thing in the way of a music-box 
I have ever seen, was shown to me to-day in the watch 
and jewelry store of Mr. Henry Capt. A beautiful 
stand was set out on the counter, mounted with massive 
gold, on the top of which was a representation, in en- 
ameled gold, of a large opening bud of a tulip flower; 
suddenly the bud expanded into full bloom, and right 
in the heart of it, there sprang up a most beautiful little 
bird with golden plumage ; and it commenced singing 
most sweetly, turning its delicately-formed head around, 
and fluttering its wings, as I had thought nothing but a 
bird could do. The price of this little musical box was 
only one thousand dollars ! 

Eight o'clock P. M., same date. — I have just re- 
turned from a visit to the Rev. J. H. Merle d'Au- 
bigne, D. D., at his sweet and lovely villa, called La 
Graveline, just on the borders of the lake, outside the 
limits of the city. His villa is a retired and charming 
spot, at the foot of a hill, occupying the level space 
that skirts the shore of the lake. It is smothered in 
trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and looks like the home 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 2*95 

of a poet. I esteemed it a special favor to be admitted 
to his study, as his engagements are such that he can 
seldom be found at leisure to receive company. I 
learned from him that he was progressing pretty well 
with the sixth volume of his " History of the Refor- 
mation." In answer to my inquiry as to the probable 
number of volumes it would require, according to his 
plan, to complete the work, he said: " Seven, probably 
eight : But I am not young now, and God may not 
spare me to see the end. I can not work now as I 
could formerly." He said that he had been engaged 
on the work for twenty-four years, and that it must re- 
quire several years yet to complete it. He complained 
a little that the American publishers should reap such 
large profits from his writings, and that the absence of 
an international copyright law, should entirely cut him 
off from any participation in those profits. I remarked 
to him that I thought if he could visit our country, 
and see how extensively his works were read, and wit- 
ness the enjoyment they conferred, and the good they 
were accomplishing, that he would feel amply compen- 
sated for the labor he had bestowed upon his interesting 
and instructive work ; and especially, as he had a copy- 
right in France and England, which must pay him well. 
I found the old gentleman in great trouble. He had 
just learned that the city authorities had determined to 
carry a wide road or promenade along upon the bor- 
ders of the lake, running between his villa and the 
shore. This he said would ruin his place, inasmuch 
as it would cut him off from the lake ; and that, most 
likely, a row of houses would be built along the road, 
directly between his house and the water, and thus he 
should be shut out from the view that opened from his 
study-windows and door. The tears actually came in 



296 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

his eyes, as he said to me, looking out at his window 
upon the bosom of the beautiful lake : *" I love Grave- 
line. It has dear and cherished associations in my 
mind. My dear wife died here, and she loved Grave- 
line^ and my children love the dear villa ; but they will 
drive me away from it. I can not stay here, if they 
cut me off from the lake and crowd me with houses." 
He then added : " It troubles me very much ; and I said 
this morning, if the American publishers would give 
me a hundred thousands francs for my labor, on which 
they are making money, I should be able to buy the 
land on which the houses are likely to be built, and 
thus save my villa from being ruined." From him I 
learned that the theological school with which he is 
more immediately connected, is not altogether as pros- 
perous as it has been. There is another theological 
institution in this place under the direction of the es- 
tablished or national branch of the church. This is 
Unitarian in doctrine. The reason assigned by Dr. 
Merle d'Aubigne for the opening of the theological 
school, with which he is connected, was purely a doc- 
trinal one, not ecclesiastical. It was to teach what he 
regarded as a pure orthodoxy and evangelism, in op- 
position to the doctrines taught by the national church. 
May 12. — Yesterday (Sunday), I attended religious 
services in the morning at a Presbyterian church, of 
which the Kev. Mr. Demole is pastor. The church was 
crowded with a most devout and serious congregation. 
The singing was led by a clerk, who stood in front of 
the pulpit, the whole congregation joining in this part 
of the worship. The mode of worship was the same as 
that of the Presbyterians in our own country. The 
minister, however, wore a black robe and white bands, 
and in this respect, of course, was unlike the Presby- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 297 

terian ministers in the United States. The sermon 
was delivered in a most earnest and animated style 
and manner, and altogether without manuscript or even 
notes. 

Dr. Merle d'Aubigne was present with several other 
ministers, and I have nowhere witnessed a more pleas- 
ant spectacle than was presented in this plain house of 
worship, and in these devout and spiritual worshippers. 

It was delightful here, in the heart of Europe, where 
Roman Catholicism prevails so extensively and almost 
universally, to meet with so large a number of evangel- 
ical Christians, with such men of God as Doctors Merle 
d'Aubigne and Malan, and the Rev. Mr. Demole at 
their head, actively engaged in disseminating gospel 
truth, and earnestly laboring for the salvation of sinners. 

This branch of the church of Christ in Geneva is 
doing a great deal for the moral and religious enlighten- 
ment, not only of the cantons of Switzerland, but also 
of France and other adjacent parts. 

I have been delighted with some strolls about Ge- 
neva. A walk down the banks of the Rhone, as far as 
its junction with the Arve, affords a fine recreation, and 
regales the eye with much that is interesting and enter- 
taining. The clear, pellucid waters of the Rhone, with 
here and there a beautiful swan stemming the current, 
or a mountain-trout darting through the translucent 
waters ; the cottages and gardens spotting the hills on 
the other side the river, and the thickets of weeping 
willows, drooping over the path on the hither shore , 
the junction of the turbid muddy waters of the Arve, 
and the blue waters of the Rhone, each claiming its 
portion of the channel, and refusing to unite with the 
other ; all these combine to make the solitary ramble 
down the river, a most pleasant and agreeable stroll. 

13^ 



298 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Some of the views from the more elevated points 
immediately around the city are delightful. The quiet 
bosom of the lake, bounded by gently-sloping hills, 
rising into lofty mountains, at points not remote from 
the shore ; the beautiful cottages, scattered in every 
direction some just upon the brink of the waters and 
others occupying more elevated positions ; the white- 
winged barques ; the latine sails of larger craft ; the 
graceful steamers ; the fisherman with his barge, and 
the party of pleasure with flaunting streamers and fairy- 
like skiff's ; and, far away beyond all, the snowy heights 
of vast Alpine ranges, forming the bold and magnificent 
background to a picture of the most enchanting love- 
liness. 

The visiter at Geneva is shown in his walks about 
the city, the house in which Calvin died, the cathedral 
in which he preached, the spot where he burned Serve- 
tus, and the grave where he was buried. He has also 
pointed out to him the dwelling in which Rousseau was 
born, a man of whom G-eneva boasts and is proud, 
notwithstanding his infidelity with regard to Jesus 
Christ and the Holy Scriptures. 

Geneva has a picture gallery which contains some 
good paintings, and a gallery of statuary, principally 
composed of casts in plaster of the best pieces found in 
the various galleries of Europe. There is also a mu- 
seum of natural history which is worth visiting. Be- 
sides these, there is but little in the city that claims the 
particular attention of the traveller. 

The weather has been rainy and cloudy, with the ex- 
ception of a few hours at a time, ever since we have 
been in the city, which has greatly abridged the pleasure 
of our visit to Geneva. Mont Blanc has only now and 
then, for a few moments at a time, deigned to unveil 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 299 

his face, and the inclemency of the season has cut us 
off from a visit ''to Chamouni. This I very much re- 
gret. But the 7ner de glace is almost entirely covered 
with snow, and the clouds obscure the mountain sum- 
mits, so that no veiy fine views can be enjoyed at this 
time. 

I have enjoyed the views of the lake from my win- 
dow, and of the Rhone, which parts from the lake but 
a hundred yards or so above our hotel. The river 
starts suddenly into a rapid current, and the beautiful 
swans, which are supported by the government, are 
always to be seen upon the waters, gliding gracefully 
under the bridges, and visiting the places where their 
food is daily deposited at the expense of the state. 
These swans are a privileged class, and are amply 
protected by law. Any intentional injury done to one 
of these graceful fowls is visited with a heavy penalty. 
They are on a footing almost as high as the live eagles, 
which are the arms of Geneva, and which are also sup- 
ported by the government. Some of these swans oc- 
casionally pay a visit to Lausanne, Vevay, or Yilleneuve, 
forty or fifty miles distant, up the lake, where they are 
always received with the greatest hospitality and at- 
tention. They get a lunch of cake and other little 
delicacies, and return when it suits their views of pro- 
priety or convenience to Geneva. These long excursions 
are made on the wing, though they are strong and rapid 
swimmers, even against a powerful current. 

Lausanne — " Hotel Gibbon''^ — sa77ie date, nine cr- 
clock P. M. — We left Geneva to-day at two o'clock by 
steamboat, and ran down to Ouchy, which is the port of 
Lausanne, in about four hours — from Ouchy, by omni- 
bus to the hotel where we took lodgings for the night. 
Ouchy is a little town just on the lake. This is the 



800 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

place in which Lord Byron wrote his " Prisoner of 
Chillon," in the space of two days, ^lile he was de- 
tained here by bad weather. 

Lausanne is a handsome city, with seventeen thou- 
sand inhabitants. It has some fine public buildings, and 
wears the air of a thriving, prosperous, and pleasant 
place. It is hilly and picturesque, as seen at a dis- 
tance from the bosom of the lake. It was in this city 
that Gibbon completed his history of Rome. The wall 
of the Hotel Gibbon^ the hotel in which I am writing, 
occupies the site of the summer-house of this polished 
author ; and the berceau or covered walk of acacias in 
which Gibbon took a walk just after laying down his 
pen at the close of his work, has been destroyed to 
make room for the garden of the hotel ; '' but the ter- 
race overlooking the lake, a lime, and a few acacias 
remain." 

In Lausanne, as in Vevay and Geneva, a great deal 
of ornamental wood- work, made by the people of Swit- 
zerland, wrought by the hand, with a common knife, is 
ofiered for sale, consisting of boxes, needle-cases, nap- 
kin-rings, salad knives and forks, cottages, animals, 
watch-stands, and a thousand other articles, displaying 
a patience and ingenuity that is perfectly incredible. 
These curious pieces of workmanship are made by the 
country people of Switzerland, at their homes in the 
mountains, and sold to city merchants who keep large 
and extensive establishments for the sale of these ar- 
ticles to travellers. Besides the work in wood, these in- 
genious hands manufacture the most exquisitely wrought 
breast-pins, rings, and various little fancy articles, out 
of the horns of the elk, chamois, and other animals. 
A great deal of this work, however, is done by the dwel- 
lers in the " Black Forest" skirting Germany ; but it 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 801 

finds its way down to Geneva, and to all the towns on 
the lake, visited by travellers, where it meets a ready 
sale. 

To-morrow morning early, we shall leave by diligence 
for Freyburg, and I shall not enjoy the privilege of see- 
ing the Rev. Mr. Cook, superintendent of the Wesleyan 
Methodist missions in France and Switzerland, who 
now resides on the outskirts of this city, though my 
principal object in coming to Lausanne this evening was 
for that purpose. The rain has prevented my visiting 
him. 



302 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XXI. 

FROM LAUSANNE TO BADEN-BADEN. 

Drive from Lausanne to Freyburg — Suspension Bridges. — The great 
Organ of Freyburg. — Liberty Tree. — Freyburg Itself. —Berne — 
Curious Clock. — Bears. — New Capitol. — Country around Berne. — 
From Berne, by Basle to Strasburg. — Cathedral and Clofk of Stras- 
burg. — House of the Architect. — Church of St. Thomas. — Protes- 
tantism. 

Freyburg, May 13. — The diligence ride from Lau- 
sanne this morning was a pleasant recreation. The 
road is delightful ; the horses were fine, the vehicle 
comfortable, and the country delightful. We made the 
trip in about seven hours, arriving at this place at two 
o'clock this afternoon. The principal objects of inter- 
est and attraction here, are the suspension bridges, 
and the cathedral, with its great organ of unrivalled 
sweetness and power. The suspension bridge across the 
Saarine, is said to be the longest in the world of a single 
curve, being nine hundred and forty-one feet in length, 
one hundred and eighty feet high, and twenty-two feet 
in breadth. It is supported by four cables of iron wire, 
each containing one thousand and fifty-six wires, and is 
calculated to bear at least three times the weight that 
is ever likely to be placed upon it. 

The other bridge is across the gorge of Gotteron, on 
the other side of the river, both being seen distinctly 
from the window of my room in the Hotel de Zaringer 
Hof, where 1 now write ; indeed, I have but to raise my 
eyes and both bridges are in full view. This latter 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 303 

bridge is six hundred and forty feet long, and three 
hundred and seventeen feet high. It is peculiar in some 
regards, namely, in that the wire cables are attached 
immediately to the solid rocks on each side the gorge, 
and the point of suspension is higher on one side than 
on the other, which gives it the appearance of a half 
bridge. These two elegant suspension bridges, occupy- 
ing as they do conspicuous positions, and being of un- 
equal height, and running in different directions — the 
one spanning a river, and the other stretching its light, 
web-like form across a deep chasm through which a 
noisy little mountain stream leaps and brattles among 
the rocks, present a most intvjresting spectacle ; and 
from no point of observation do they appear to better 
advantage than from the platform immediately in the 
rear of this hotel, and directly under my window. 

The great organ, built by Moser of Freyburg, is, I 
believe, allowed to be one of the finest instruments in 
all Europe. It has sixty stops, and seven thousand eight 
hundred pipes, som.e of which are thirty-two feet long. 
It is in the cathedral of Freyburg, and an arrangement 
Is made with the organist by which he is allowed to 
play for the entertainment of strangers, visiting the 
city, at such hours as do not interfere with the daily 
services in the church. To enjoy this privilege, how- 
ever, it is necessary to pay twelve francs for a party, 
of less than eight or ten persons ; when larger numbers 
go together it costs but a franc per head. Our little 
party of four persons paid the twelve francs, and en- 
gaged to go to the cathedral at seven o'clock this 
evening to hear the performance. 

I have just now returned from the Saint Nicholas, 
where, for nearly an hour, I have enjoyed such music 
as I had never expected to hear outside the gates of 



304 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Paradise. I can give no description of it that will fur- 
nish to a mere reader any just idea of the grandeur, 
sublimity, and exquisite sweetness of the strains of 
that magnificent instrument. The cathedral is a large 
church edifice, with high arches, springing from the top 
of lofty columns, separating the nave from the side 
aisles. It is not in the form of a cross as most of the 
Catholic cathedrals and churches are ; but is a plain, 
quadrangular building, some three hundred feet long, 
and about one hundred and fifty feet wide. It is there- 
fore without transepts or chapels, the interior present- 
ing nothing to the eye but plain walls, lofty arches, and 
great massive clusters of columns. The form of this 
cathedral is not unfavorable to the best impressions 
from the music of the organ. 

The hour at which we went to the church was also 
well suited to give effectiveness to the music, and, it is 
possible, that the accidents of mere time, distance from 
home, and the peculiar frame of mind, may have led 
me to place too high an estimate upon the perform- 
ance ; but I left the 'cathedral with a conviction that 
I still retain, that I never have before heard such 
music from any instrument or combination of instru- 
ments in all my life. 

The sun had just gone down, and the reflected light 
from the western sky blazed upon the roof-windows of the 
cathedral, and filled the upper ceiling with a rich and 
mellow twilight, that shed a sober, solemn hue upon 
the nave and aisles below, half veiling the giant col- 
umns, and shrouding the more distant parts of the 
church in almost impenetrable gloom. There was a 
death-like silence reigning around. My thoughts had 
paid a visit to loved ones far away ; and during the 
interval which elapsed before the commencement of the 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 305 

music, I had become so absorbed in the creations of 
my own imagination, that I momentarily forgot where 
I was ; when suddenly the organist commenced, and 
aroused me from a sort of revery that I at first re- 
luctantly exchanged for the enjoyment of the music of 
the organ. The prelude did not promise much. There 
were discordant notes, to my ear, which were almost 
painful. There were some transitions, also, from soft, 
faintly-breathing notes, up to sudden thunder-bursts, 
that rolled like the roar of a tempest through the ar- 
ches of the cathedral, the only impression of which 
was that the instrument was one of great power, and 
compass of tone. But it was soon apparent that a 
master's hand was upon the keys, and presently it 
gave forth the most delightful strains that it is possible 
for anything short of angelic voices to utter. I was 
moved to tears ; my heart beat quick, and strong, and 
a strange, shivering sensation trembled along every 
nerve. The music combined every variety of notes 
and strains ; sometimes it was like a martial band, at- 
tended by the tramp of an army marching on to victo- 
ry or to death ; sometimes like minstrel wailings over 
the bier, bearing the only son of a widow to the grave ; 
again it was like the cheerful strains in festive halls, 
where light and airy footsteps beat the time on tessel- 
ated floors ; and, again, like the touching plaint of a 
heart-broken mother, in her lonely chamber, giving 
vent to her heart-rending agony, over the marble re- 
mains of a sweet and lovely babe torn from her embrace 
by the iron hand of death. There were also wild, 
bugle blasts, such as are heard at sunset, or at early 
morn, amid the snows and glaciers of the Alps. Then 
again there were prolonged and softened strains, like 
those that sweep over moonlit waters, from the pleasure 



306 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

boat, on a summer lake. There were woven in, at other 
times, sweet and plaintive airs, such as love-sick swains 
play under the window of a maiden in the midnight 
serenade ; then there were sudden peals like those we 
hear from a full Austrian band on a public square, when 
the leader gives the signal for the full explosive power 
of every instrument; and, amid all, there were heard 
exquisitely delicate notes, like the plaint of a wounded 
bird in a rose-bower, or like the notes that tremble on 
the seolian harp-string when touched by the zephyr's 
kiss. I know of nothing in the whole range and com- 
pass of music that was not represented in the grand, 
glorious, and sublime piece performed this evening on 
the great organ of the cathedral. I thought, at times, 
of the band of harpers standing on the sea of glass, 
as seen and heard by Saint John in the apocalyptic 
vision: I thought again of the great multitude which 
no man could number, singing in full and sublime chorus 
before the Throne. Then, again, in the softer, half- 
breathing interludes, I felt as though a sweet, little, 
lovely cherub liad wandered away from heaven, and 
had got lost in the wilderness of organ-pipes, and was 
singing its own songs in its exile, and panting to find 
its way back to the spirit-land. I really felt as though, 
if there were no other attraction, I should want to get 
to heaven, after death, to hear the angels sing. The 
performance was closed with the representation of a 
storm, in which were heard the roar of the tempest, 
the howling of strong and powerful winds — such as 
bend the tops of the strong Alpine pines — and the 
deep, sullen rumbling of distant thunder; and still, as 
it were in the very heart of this terrible tempest, there 
were distinctly heard, the softest, sweetest strains of 
music, breathing forth in melting, dulcet notes, that 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 807 

contrasted strangely with the howling winds, and stun- 
ning peals of thunder that filled the great cathedral 
with their dismal sound. 

There is, in one of the principal streets of Freyburg, 
the ancient trunk of a lime-tree, which is cherished 
with great reverence by the citizens, the history of 
which is curious and entertaining. It is said that a 
young man, who had fought nobly in the battle of 
Morat, in 1476, and who was anxious to be the bearer 
of the glad tidings to the city, ran the whole way, 
and, on arriving at the spot where the old tree now 
stands, exhausted, panting, bleeding, and out of 
breath, fell down, and expired, barely exclaiming with 
his dying breath, " Victory .'" The branch of lime 
which he bore in his hand, as tradition says, was im- 
mediately planted, and grew up into the venerable tree, 
the remains of which are still standing, and to-day is 
flourishing in its early spring robe of green foliage. The 
trunk is twenty feet in circumference ; the upper limbs 
are decayed and broken off, while its wide-spreading 
lower branches are supported by stone columns and 
railings. Seats are arranged around the trunk, where 
the citizens and visiters may lounge in its shade, as I 
did to-day. 

Freyburg itself is an old city, and is the chief town 
in the canton, the name of which it bears. The can- 
ton is Roman Catholic, and the traveller in passing out 
of any of the cantons adjacent, in which Protestantism 
prevails, will soon be struck with the altered appearance 
of things. In the cantons of Yaud and Geneva, I 
never saw a beggar. The country is prosperous and 
thrifty, looking very much like our own happy land. 
The fields, houses, forests, towns, everything in fact, 
in the Protestant portions of Switzerland, reminds one 



308 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the United States ; but where Catholicism prevails 
a different aspect of affairs is presented. Beggars beset 
the traveller; the people look less independent and 
happy ; crosses and crucifixes are along the road side, 
and the walls of Catholic institutions are ever and anon 
meeting the eye. 

Berne, Mai/ 14. — A pleasant ride of three hours 
brought us from Freyburg to Berne, the capital of 
Switzerland. Here we have had the services of a valet 
de place ^ who has shown us round, under a drenching 
fall of rain, to all the curiosities, and objects of interest 
usually visited by travellers. The town-clock is a 
curious piece of workmanship. A few minutes before 
the clock strikes the hour, a chicken-cock flaps his wings 
and crows — a pretty fair imitation of old chanticleer 
— ^^ whereupon a procession of bears, some mounted on 
horseback, and some on foot, and all in some sort of 
uniform, comes out at one door, marches round a small 
platform in quick step, and enters another ; whereupon, 
an old man, turns an hour-glass, and strikes the hour, 
dropping his under-jaw at each stroke ; that done, old 
chanticleer again claps his wings, in rooster-style, and 
crows as in the first instance, and the ceremony for the 
hour is ended. Our party stood, like a parcel of ga 
ping children in the rain to witness this hourly exhib- 
ition, and then turned away to visit the museum, which 
contains a pretty good collection of stuffed bears, birds, 
snakes, and the usual variety of animals, embracing espe- 
cially the chamois and such other animals as are found in 
the mountains of Switzerland. There is connected with 
this museum a large collection of mineralogical speci- 
mens, and some of the most perfect fossils of fishes 
and vegetables that have anywhere fallen under my 
eye. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 309 

We were of course shown the spot where an un- 
governable horse leaped over a parapet some ninety feet 
high, with a young man on his back ; the horse being 
killed, the young man sustaining no other damage than 
the fracture of two or three ribs. The place is marked 
by a tablet inserted in the wall of the parapet, com- 
memorating the event, and perpetuating the name of 
the young man, who, perhaps, but for this accidental 
breakneck adventure, would not have been known in the 
history of Berne. There is, however, a most magnifi- 
cent view presented from the walls of this parapet, in 
fine weather ; raining, as it was, we had to take the 
word of the guide for it, except, so far as the view 
immediately under the eye is concerned. This is indis- 
putably very fine. The parapet rises perpendicularly 
nearly a hundred feet from the banks of the Aar, a 
rushing, foaming river that winds around, and through 
the city. The fields and hills immediately beyond, are 
under cultivation, and dotted with fine residences, and 
wooded grounds ; while further back, on a clear day, 
the high Alps, with Jungfrau, Mont Blanc, Tete Noir, 
and other prominent peaks, are all in distinct view, lift- 
ing their lofty, snow-crowned summits to the region of 
the clouds. We were also conducted to the place 
where a parcel of bears ^ four in number at present — 
the living state-arras of Berne, as the eagles are of 
G-eneva, supported at the expense of the general gov- 
ernment of Switzerland — are kept. Napoleon Bona- 
parte, the reigning monarch of France, has recently 
made a present of a large fine bear to the government 
of Switzerland. 

These bears are supported by annual appropriations, 
made by the constituted authorities for this object. 
They are treated with great respect by the citizens, 



810 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and the numerous visiters to these highly-favored ani- 
mals, bestow upon them many delicacies, in the way of 
cakes, apples, sugarplums, and things of that sort. 

The new railroad from Basle, which passes Berne, 
extending to Lausanne, and which is now rapidly pro- 
gressing toward completion, will displace these bears 
from their present habitation, as an embankment of the 
road will fill the enclosure now occupied by them, and 
impose upon the government the necessity of incurring 
additional expense in providing a new place of abode 
for them. Bronze, marble, wood, and cast-iron bears 
are numerous in the streets, at the gates, and in all 
public places in Berne. 

The new Capitol, which will be completed in the 
course of the next twelve months, is a splendid pub- 
lic building. It is made of a fine building material, 
peculiar to the country, which, on first being quarried, 
is soft and easily wrought, but which rapidly indurates 
by exposure to the sun and air. It is of a drab color, 
and looks exceedingly .well. The dimensions of the 
Capitol are very large, and the style of architecture 
chaste and imposing. When completed it will rank 
among the highest class of great state edifices in 
Europe. It occupies a most delightful site, high 
above the waters of the roaring Aar, which washes the 
base of the hill on which it stands, commanding a 
magnificent view of mountain scenery. 

All the country around Berne is in a high state of 
improvement. Everything wears an air of prosperity 
and thrift. The population are intelligent, manly, in- 
dependent, and the traveller can not fail to be favorably 
impressed with the state of society. The country is 
altogether unlike any other portion of southern Europe. 
Extensive forests abound. Large and rapid streams 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 311 

traverse the length and breadth of the land ; and in all 
the cantons in which Protestantism prevails to any- 
considerable extent, and especially where it predomi- 
nates, there is a most prosperous and happy state of 
society. There is a fine cathedral in Berne occupied 
by Protestants. This, like the cathedral at Geneva, 
once was in the hands of the Roman Catholics. It has 
a splendid organ which is played daily for the enter- 
tainment of visiters. 

Strasburg, France, May 15. — From Berne to Basle 
there is one of the finest roads anywhere to be found in 
Switzerland. It is so well graded, that, although it 
crosses the Jura Alps, the diligence ride from one city 
to the other affords a most delightful recreation. The 
country is as lovely as a garden, and new and delight- 
ful scenes are constantly greeting the eye of the traveller. 

Posting, by diligence, in Switzerland is carried to 
a perfection that is nowhere surpassed in Europe. It 
is conducted under the direct management of the 
general government. Each roijte has its hours of de- 
parture from, and arrival at certain points, and the 
railroad cars are scarcely more punctual. At the 
moment of departure, the driver cracks his whip, and 
away the great diligence, with coupe, interior, and 
top seats, affording accommodations for twelve or fifteen 
persons, goes thundering along, drawn by superior 
horses, at the rate of seven or eight miles per hour ; 
furnishing as delightful a mode of conveyance for a 
single day, or for a night's journey, as could be desired. 

Basle, which we saw for an hour or two this morn- 
ing, is an old city of twenty-eight thousand inhabitants. 
It has a large university, with about five hundred 
students at this time, and a cathedral whose tower is 
next in height to that of Freyburg — this latter liaving 



SI 2 EANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the highest tower in Switzerland. There are some in- 
teresting things connected with the great Reformation, 
which are associated with Basle ; but these belong more 
properly to the pen of the historian than to the mere 
passing tourist. 

Switzerland is a fine country. The people, especially 
in the Protestant cantons, are cheerful and happy. 
They enjoy freedom of conscience and civil liberty ; 
and where these prevail, under a well-regulated govern- 
ment, the grass grows, the fields are productive, bread 
is plentiful, and the people wear cheerful smiles, and can 
look you full in the face. Switzerland is a bright spot 
among the more despotic governments of Europe, and 
its influence is felt all over the continent. Public en- 
terprise is marching forward here with a steady and 
rapid stride. Railroads are penetrating the mountain 
fastnesses ; telegraphic wires are weaving a web over 
the land ; the resources of the country are daily de- 
veloping ; education is advancing ; general intelligence 
spreading, and everything gives promise of a glorious 
future for the land of Tell. I left Switzerland with 
reluctance. It is a delightful place of sojourn to the 
European traveller. 

The route from Basle to Strasburg is by railroad, 
lying along the fruitful and beautiful valley of the 
Rhine. We made the trip this morning in four hours, 
on the French side, including a detention on the French 
frontier, of some time for the examination of the bag- 
gage of all the passengers by the train. The valley is 
from fifteen to thirty miles wide, and is bounded on 
both sides by mountains of considerable elevation ; on 
the highest summits of which, castles are seen from the 
cars, as the traveller flies along over a fine road, that 
stretches midway through the valley. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 313 

On our arrival at Strasburg, we immediately set out 
to see the cathedral, with its curious clock and lofty 
spire — the highest in the world ; being four hundred 
and sixty-eight feet above the pavement ; which is a 
few feet higher than the dome of Saint Peter's at 
Rome ; twenty-four feet higher than the great pyramid 
of Egypt, and one hundred and forty feet higher than 
the dome of Saint Paul's at London. " This master- 
piece of airy, open work," as it is called in the guide- 
book, was designed by Erwin of Steinbach. All his 
original plans are carefully preserved in the house which 
he occupied near the cathedral. The work was but 
half completed when he died; one of his sons, how- 
ever, was able to take up the work according to his 
father's plans, but death cut him off while the work 
was yet incomplete, whereupon it was taken in hand by 
Sabina, a daughter of the architect, and prosecuted for 
some time, but she did not see it finished. The whole 
family died while the grand superstructure was yet in- 
complete, and their remains were deposited in the 
cathedral, over which the great spire continued to rise, 
to its present stupendous height as a monument to this 
family of architects. The spire was commenced in 
1318, but not completed until 1439, which was four 
hundred and twenty-four years after the church itself 
was commenced. 

The spire is not difficult of ascent, but the view from 
the top scarcely compensates for the fatigue incurred in 
mounting so high. A permit from the mayor of the 
city is necessary to gain admission to the spire itself, 
and then the visiter must be attended by one of the 
watchmen who is kept upon the platform about two 
thirds of the way up, to watch for fires in the city, as 
a guide, and to prevent one from committing suicide by 

14 



ol4 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

jumping off. Our party failed to secure the necessary 
ticket of admission to the spire, not knowing that such 
a form was necessary until it was too late — so we did 
not ascend more than about three hundred and fifty 
feet. I regretted our failure to gain the highest point, 
as I always go to the top, where there is a way of as- 
cent. In this instance our disappointment arose from 
the oversight of our guide, who did not know that we 
wished to go higher than the platform, this being tlie 
point beyond which but few ascend. 

In looking down upon the roofs of the houses, cover- 
ed with tiles, presenting a dingy, antiquated appear- 
ance, our attention was arrested by the nests of the 
storks, a number of which are about Strasburg, built 
upon the tops of the chimneys. 

From the cathedral and the house of the architect, 
Erwin, which is close by, we next visited the church of 
Saint Thomas, appropriated to the use of a Protestant 
congregation, which is noted especially for the splen- 
did monument of Marshal Saxe, which it contains. 
This beautiful piece of sculpture is the work of Pigalle ; 
and was erected to the memory of Saxe by Louis XY. 
In this church there are also shown the bodies of the 
Count Nassau Saarwerden and his daughter, still in a 
remarkable state of preservation, after the lapse of 
more than a century. The flesh and clothes are nearly 
as they were when committed to the tomb. The re- 
mainder of the time spent in Strasburg, has been 
occupied in visiting the shops and public places. 

Strasburg, though in the French territory, is essen- 
tially G-erman. There is a population of about seventy 
thousand, a large majority of whom seem to be Ger- 
mans. The German language, customs, and manners, 
prevail, and in the restaurants and cafes quite as 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 315 

mucli beer is consumed as is usual in similar establish- 
ments in Germany. At least, I should think so, from 
what I have seen during the last hour, since I have 
been writing in a cafe at the railroad station, waiting 
for the departure of the omnibus which is to carry us 
across the Khine, some four or five miles, to Kehl, 
wliere we are to take the train at seven o'clock this 
evening for Baden-Baden. 

There are about as many Protestants as Roman Cath- 
olics in Strasburg, which is an interesting fact. In 
several places recently visited in Switzerland, and now 
in this part of France, upon the borders of Germany, 
we find old Catholic churches and cathedrals used by 
Protestants for religious services. This change can 
be traced back to the times of the Reformation, when 
Luther, Zwingle, Ecolampadius, Erasmus, and Melanc- 
thon preached another gospel through all this country 
than that promulgated by the Romish priesthood. 

Baden-Baden — Saine date. — Leaving the old city 
of Strasburg, with its rusty-colored tile-roofs, and 
motley population, we traversed a level road, over a 
flat section of the valley skirting the Rhine, for three 
or four miles — crossed the river on a bridge support- 
ed by boats — entered the customhouse on the Ger- 
many side of the river — had our trunks opened and 
partially examined ; I say partially, for, on learning 
that we were Americans^ the officers very courteously 
closed our trunks, remarking that all was right, and 
did not subject us to the inconvenience of repacking, 
which is so often imposed on travellers in Europe by 
these customhouse examinations. About eight o'clock 
to-night we reached a point where we left the main 
railroad down the valley of the Rhine, and turned out 
toward the mountains and hill country that border the 



316 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

eastern side of the valley. In a few minutes we were 
entering Baden-Baden, the place of hot baths, gambling, 
and all sorts of fashionable dissipation, during the 
summer months especially. In the gas-light it pre- 
sented a most brilliant and picturesque appearance. 
It has the reputation of being one of the most beauti- 
ful and lovely spots on the Ehine. To-morrow 1 shall 
see for myself. We are at the Hotel d'Angleterre, 
which is a neat, clean hotel, and my window is again 
above a stream that passes through the town — its music 
is on the night-winds, and lulls me to repose after a 
day of fatigue. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 317 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BADEN-BADEN, HEIDELBERG, FRANKFORT, AND WEISBADEN. 

Baden-Baden and its Environs. — Hot Springs. — Rouge-et-Noir. — 
Females Gambling. — New Castle. — A Hot Bath. — Old Castle on 
the Mountains. — From Baden-Baden to Heidelberg. — Ride up the 
Neckar. — Wolfs Spring. — Heildelberg Castle. — Views. — From 
Heidelberg to Frankfort. — Face of the Country. — Drives about 
Frankfort. — Sights. — From Frankfort to Weisbaden. — Gambling. 
— Hot Springs. — Grounds. — Splendid Mausoleum of the Wife of 
the Duke of Nassau. 

Baden-Baden, Maij 16. — This place is called Baden- 
Baden, to distinguish it from other towns of the same 
name in Switzerland, Austria, and in other parts of 
Germany. The weather continues rainy and disagree- 
able, and my views of Baden and its environs to-day, 
have been under many disadvantages, but I have seen 
enough to convince me that it is one of the most attrac- 
tive and beautiful places, so far as location and scenery 
are concerned, anywhere met with in European travel. 
It is completely embosomed in hills and mountains 
which are covered from base to summit with the lofty 
pine of dark foliage, which has given the name of the 
'• Black Forest" to the range of mountains stretching for 
many miles southward on the borders of the valley of 
the Rhine, In addition to the singularly-beautiful nat- 
ural scenery with which Baden-Baden is environed, 
landscape gardening and architecture have enhanced 
every view and given a charm to every prospect. The 
most delightful promenades are afforded along the hill- 



318 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

sides, on handsomely-graded paths, arched with the 
dark and impenetrable masses of pine boughs, and stud- 
ded with clustering clumps of lilac, now in full bloom, 
or fringed with flowers trained along the margin of the 
path. In a few minutes' walk, one can pass out from the 
bustle of the streets and the shops, and the throngs 
that fill the more public promenades about the conver- 
sation and gambling saloons, and near the baths and 
water-drinking apartments, and bury himself in the per- 
fect solitude of the silent deep forest, where he may 
give himself up to musing and day-dreaming, undis- 
turbed by a living, human being. Here and there, one 
like himself may lounge upon a rustic bench, or pause 
beside some woodland fountain, or stretch himself upon 
the green turf, or glide noiselessly along the deeply- 
shaded path ; but the influence of the sombre, quiet 
forest of dark pines, and the never-ceasing murmur of 
waterfalls, shed an influence around that seals the lip 
in silence, or attunes it to soft and smothered accents, 
and clothe's the feet with wool, so that scarce an echo 
or a footfall disturbs the repose or breaks in upon the 
meditations of the rambler, who has strolled but ten 
minutes from the noisy, cheerful bustling crowds in the 
streets and public walks of Baden-Baden. 

The. Hot Spring's, furnishiag baths and water for in- 
valids, and to which valuable medicinal properties have 
been ascribed, burst out from the base of a hill in the 
northern part of the town, and diffuse a genial warmth 
in winter, and an almost insupportable heat in summer, 
through the whole- of the section in which they issue from 
the ground, which has been the occasion of calling all 
this part of Baden-Baden by the name of " Hell.'^ And 
one would think from the steam issuing all around, as 
the old wagoner said when he dipped his bucket in one 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 319 

of the hot springs of Virginia, not knowing anything 
of its temperature, " that hell was not far off." But 
Baden-Baden, gives other, and I think less questionable 
proofs of its proximity to hell, than those furnished by 
its hot springs which stew, and smoke, and send up 
their clouds of vapor and steam in the town. Any one 
who will visit its gambling saloons as I did to-day, and 
witness the utter heartlessness with which men and wo- 
men take each other's money, without any equivalent, 
will not want further proof that a satanic influence 
reigns hereabouts to a fearful extent. 

Baden-Baden is now frequented by blacklegs and 
women of easy morals in large numbers, who spend a 
great deal of their time at the rouge-et-noir and rou- 
lette tables. These tables are in elegant saloons ad- 
joining the splendid and brilliant conversation hall, and 
are open from eleven o'clock in the morning till a late 
hour of the night. Everybody is allowed to walk in 
and witness the gambling. None but those who are 
betting are allowed to be seated ; mere spectators stand 
around and look on. Everything is quiet ; nothing is 
heard — not a word or a whisper scarcely, save the voice 
of the man who presides, whose business it is to turn 
the wheel, put the ball in motion, and announce the 
number and color of the little box in which the ball 
stops after being put in motion. The wheel is turning, 
the ball is put in motion round a circle, and in twenty 
seconds, perhaps less, it stops ; and during that brief 
interval the persons betting put down their florins, 
francs, napoleons, or other coin as the case may be, and 
in less time than I have written these lines, the result 
is announced, and the money raked in by the table or 
pushed aside to the winner. There is no excitement ; 
no hurry. No one seems to be particularly anxious as 



320 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

to the result : no frown marks defeat ; no smile attends 
success. And this is kept up here for five or six months 
of the year, without a day's intermission. 

Some idea of the amount of money that changes hands 
here during the season in gambling, may be inferred 
from the fact, that the gambling tables and saloons are 
rented by a company of speculators, who pay for the 
exclusive privilege of opening gambling-rooms, from 
thirty to forty thousand dollars annually, and agree to 
spend, in addition to this sum, one hundred thousand 
dollars on the public walks and buildings ! 

While I was standing by the table to-day, looking on, 
a couple of females walked into the room where the 
gambling was going on, and as deliberately took their 
seats as if they were sitting down to a meal. One of 
them was at least forty-five or fifty years of age ; the 
other not so old, and in deep black. The elder lady of 
the two pulled out a note which she reached to a banker, 
who gave her the change for it in napoleons, five-franc 
pieces, and in the silver currency of the country. She 
instantly commenced betting ; tossing her money upon 
the numbers on which she bet with singular adroitness, 
and witnessing the result with no manifested solicitude 
whatever. The first two or three bets she won ; then 
for some time the luck was against her, and whole hand- 
Ms of her money was raked in by the table. She 
drew out more notes and converted them into specie, 
and kept up the game. Sometimes she would win large- 
ly, for she bet high, then again her luck would turn ; 
but it seemed to me that she was alike indifferent 
whether she gained or lost. When I left she was still 
at the table betting away, while her lady friend in 
black, occasionally threw down a florin, or a five-franc 
piece as a sort of amusemeut ; l)ut she was evidently an 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 321 

inexperienced hand, and she did not witness the result 
with the same coolness as her more experienced neigli- 
bor by her side. 

There are some objects of interest and curiosity 
about Baden-Baden. Just on an eminence overlooking 
the Hot Springs, is situated the neiv castle^ as it is 
called, of the grand duke of Baden. It is not a new 
building, though called the new castle ; it is only rel- 
atively new. The old castle stood on the summit of a 
mountain, a mile or more from the present castle. It 
is now a wild and picturesque ruin, perched upon the 
crest of the mountain, and is visited by nearly all the 
travellers who stop at tliis place. The new castle is 
four hundred years old, and occupies the site on which 
an old prison, in some way connected with the old 
baronial castle, formerly stood. 

The present palace is not particularly interesting, in 
any way, of itself. It is a plain, substantial castle, 
with an open court in front. Its walls are six or eight 
feet thick, and it has the usual number of halls, ante- 
rooms, bed-chambers, ball-rooms, conversation-saloons, 
and dining-apartments, found in most of the royal pal- 
aces in this country. The paintings which decorate 
the walls are confined principally to the portraits of 
the long line of ancestry of the present grand duke. 

This chateau is used partly as a summer-residence 
by the royal family; the winter residence being at 
Carlsruhe. But that which renders this castle an ob- 
ject of interest to travellers is the fact that it contains 
dark and mysterious prisons under its walls, which are 
supposed to have been used for the confinement and 
punishment of persons offensive to the lord of the old 
castle. I, and one of my fellow-travellers, under the 
guidance of the castellan, explored these dungeons this 



322 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

morning. They are divided into many apartments, and 
remind one very much of the catacombs, under the 
church of Saint Sebastian, near Rome. The only light 
that could by possibility reach these gloomy cells Avas 
through a shaft, that came down through the castle. It 
still remains, and it is said the prisoners, were blind- 
folded and let down by a windlass through this shaft. 
But the large majority of the dungeons was without a 
solitary ray of light. The prisoners were put in, and 
a large stone door, near a foot in thickness, bolted and 
barred, and weighing from twelve hundred to two 
thousand pounds, was closed upon them, and there they 
were left to darkness and the most fearful apprehen- 
sions as to the future. Few that entered ever saw the 
daylight again. There vrere torture-rooms, and the 
hooks and rings of horrid machinery are still in the 
walls. There was a subterranean passage from the old 
castle on the mountain to these dungeons, which must 
have been more than a mile in length, through which a 
tribunal entered an apartment of the prisons and con- 
ducted the trials of the accused. The stone benches 
on which the tribunal sat and the seat of the president 
of the council still remain. Those who were con- 
demned to death, it would seem, Tvere not apprized of 
the sentence pronounced upon them ; but were con- 
ducted into a passage, at one end of w^hich was an im- 
age of the Virgin in a niche in the wall. The criminal 
w^as desired to approach and kiss the image. This a 
Catholic would not be reluctant to do ; but on approach- 
ing the image, he put his foot on a secret trap which 
suddenly sunk beneath him, and precipitated him a 
hundred feet or more into a deep pit, where he fell 
upon a piece of machinery of hellish ingenuity, con- 
structed with wheels, armed with knives and lances, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 323 

which was put in motion by the fall of the criminal, 
and soon cut the unfortunate victim into mincemeat, 
never to be seen, never heard of again. This piece 
of machinery was accidentally discovered in later years 
by the falling of a dog into this pit. In the attempt to 
rescue the dog, the rusty knives, and lances, and the 
broken wheels, together with the rags of clothes, and 
the bones of criminals, were discovered. This dark, 
deep pit, was very appropriately called an oubliette, and 
the punishment was called " Baiser de la Vierge.''^ 

There are the remains, in a nearly perfect state, of 
an old Roman bath, adjoining these dungeons under 
the castle. It is known that the Romans had knowl- 
edge of these hot springs, and had their baths here, 
and a town called Civitas Aurelia Aquensis. 

Speaking of the baths. I and my friend B. this 
afternoon enjoyed the luxury of a hot, steam, or vapor 
bath ; the bath-room being over one of the hot springs, 
where the vapor and steam issue at a temperature 54^ 
Reaumur. An old man was our attendant, and put us 
through on the most approved scale. We were about 
an hour going through the whole operation. First we 
were put in the bath-room, filled with the hot and al- 
most suffocating steam, and kept there until the per- 
spiration ran from every pore in perfect torrents ; then 
we were put under a cold shower-bath, and drenched 
for one minute ; the old man requiring us to turn up 
our faces, and catch the cold water in our open mouths. 
Then we must take the steam again for five minutes ; 
and then the cold shower-bath a minute, all in the same 
apartment, where the heat was a little below the boiling 
point. Then we were whipped with a handful of small 
twigs, from head to heel ; then stretched out like dead 
hogs under the scaldino- operation, and rubbed with a 



324 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

stiff brush and soap-suds ; then under the cold shower- 
bath again for another minute, then the steam-bath again 
for five minutes, when we were let out into another 
apartment, and wrapped in linen sheets, and left at 
liberty to walk about and cool off; after which we 
were well rubbed down, and permitted to dress and 
go out. I enjoyed it very much ; my friend, I think, 
rather regarded it as too much of a good thing. 

Among other things to-day, we went up to the old 
castle on the mountain, some two miles from the town. 
At the foot of the ascent we mounted each a donkey, 
the laziest animals I ever saw. For with all the whip- 
ping we could lay upon them we could not get them 
out of a walk. Our conductors, two or three small boys, 
did their utmost to encourage them into a brisk walk 
or trot ; but it could not be done. But for the name 
of the thing, it would have been easier, more pleasant, 
and much more expeditious, to have taken it a foot; but 
we were in for it, and we made the best we could of it. 

The ascent was by a good path up the mountain, un- 
der the dark pines that clothe all the hills in this region 
bordering on the " Black Forest." The ruins are truly 
grand. Standing upon the highest point of the moun- 
tain rock, covering a large space with its walls, courts, 
and extensive apartments, and battlemented towers. 
Old pine-trees are growing out of the walls, and stand- 
ing in the ancient halls of the majestic, baronial pile. 
We explored its ruins ; had a fine view of the surround- 
ing country with the town at our feet, and returned not 
a little gratified with our visit. 

Weisbaden, Germany^ May 18. — Yesterday morn- 
ing, at an early hour, we left Baden-Baden by rail for 
Heidelberg, about fifty miles distant, on the road to 
Frankfort. The country over which we travelled, had 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. o2() 

nothing to attract attention, apart from its agriculture, 
and the general appearance of productiveness which 
must strike every one in passing through this portion 
of the valley of the Rhine. We passed Carlsruhe, the 
seat of the principal palace of the duke of the grand 
duchy of Baden, and several other towns of considerable 
importance, and arrived at Heidelberg about eleven 
o'clock in the forenoon. \^^e immediately took a car- 
riage for a drive about the town and its environs, em- 
bracing in the tour of course, the ruins of the castle, 
which form the great object of attraction to the visiter. 
We passed the University, which now has five or six 
hundred students. The buildings are by no means pre- 
possessing. The institution has had great celebrity, and 
at present is favored with a most able and accomplished 
board of instruction. It has a library numbering one 
hundred and twenty thousand volumes, besides some 
very valuable manuscripts, among which are Luther's 
translation of Isaiah ; his Exhortation to Prayer against 
the Turks, and a copy of the Heidelberg Catechism 
annotated by his hand. 

We passed on through the whole extent of the city, 
v/hich is principally on one street, about three miles in 
length, and emerged from the confines of the houses, 
upon a beautiful road lying immediately along on the 
banks of the Neckar, a noble stream that comes down 
from the mountains, and sweeps out into the plain of the 
Rhine, from the narrow pass into which it is croju^ded 
by the high hills that border and bound its course. 

Just on the outskirts of the city, there stands a house 
by the roadside, on the walls of which there are marks 
with the dates, showing the height of the water, at the 
time of the greatest floods in the river, for the last 
hundred years or more. The highest water-mark bears 



326 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

date December, 1784. Pursuing our course we directly 
began to bear off from the Neckar, and ascend the hill 
on the southern side. A half-hour's drive brought us 
to a house of entertainment, situated in a quiet nook, 
overshadowed with tall trees, and upon the brink of a 
noisy mountain stream, whose silvery waters made con- 
stant music in its rapid descent to the Neckar. Plard 
by, there is a clear bold spring, the waters of which are 
as cold as if they issued from an ice-house ; from this 
spring near which the enchantress Jetta, according to 
the commonly-received tradition, was torn to pieces by 
a she-wolf, the place takes the name of WoIf\'^ Bnm- 
nen. The proprietor of the inn, has devoted himself 
to raising and fattening mountain trout, which he con- 
stantly keeps on hand in great abundance, for the use 
of visiters who may favor him with a call, and which 
he has served up at a moment's notice. I had the 
pleasure of visiting the ponds, three or four in number, 
one or two of which are at least forty yards across ; 
and I speak in bounds when I say that there were thou- 
sands of trout in these ponds. The proprietor has them 
fed as regularly as a poultry-man feeds his chickens, 
and I regarded it as a very great amusement and pleas- 
ure to see them fed ; and to witness the adroitness with 
which they seized their food, and hastened off to enjoy 
it alone ; not alone, for the trout that got a small dead 
fish, which was thrown into the pond as food, was in- 
stantly pursued by a hundred more, and required to 
share his portion with his companions. Some of these 
trout are very large, measuring eighteen inches or two 
feet in length, and are as fat as a Strasburg goose after 
the stuffing and cramming process carried on there, 
upon these fowls, to such an amazing extent. We or- 
dered a trout for a lunch, and in a few moments it was 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 327 

slaughtered and served up on a table under tlie trees in 
the yard. It was most savory and delicious, and 1 and 
my friend who accompanied me in this delightful drive, 
did ample justice to the repast spread before us. 

Departing from Wolf's Brunnen, we ascended a liigh 
hill on our way bade to the old castle, wliich occupies 
the rocky brow of a mountain promontory tliat runs 
close up to the Neckar, and juts over the town. When 
we reached the highest part of the elevation along 
which the road runs to the castle, we enjoyed one of the 
most splendid prospects that is anywhere to be met 
with, bordering the valley of tlie Rhine. 

We had a line view of the Neckar for several miles 
up toward its mountain source, with scattered villages 
and country farmhouses along its banks. The hills 
arose on each side, crowned with forests, while the 
lower slopes were covered with vineyards, and gardens 
down to the water's edge. Looking toward the valley 
of the Rhine, the bold stream was seen hastening by the 
city, and under the arches of the elegant bridge that 
springs across from shore to shore, with its statuary and 
other architectural decorations ; and still on beyond, 
till it glittered like a silver thread, stretched along upon 
the flat level plain that extended to the Rhine. 

But a few moments' drive brought us to the ruins of 
the castle. This is a stupendous pile ; many parts of 
the castle building being still nearly perfect. 

An intelligent female guide showed us through, con- 
versing all the time about America and American au- 
thors. She was perfectly familiar with Longfellow's 
poems, and was thoroughly acquainted with Prescott's 
pleasing Histories. She pointed out the different 
apartments, and described their uses, and gave us the 
history, pointing out, and descanting on the finest views 



328 RANDOBI SKETCHES AND 

as seen from different windows, battlements, and towers. 
She conducted ns to the wine-cellar, and showed us 
the two great wine-casks, still perfectly sound, and 
I dare say water-tight. The largest of these casks 
called the Tun of Heidelberg, holds eight hundred 
hogsheads, or two hundred and eighty thousand bottles ! 

The history of this castle has so often been given by 
travellers that it would be worse than a useless consump- 
tion of time to narrate it here. " It is highly interest- 
ing," say the guides, " for its varied fortunes, its pic- 
turesque situation, its vastness, and the relics of archi- 
tectural magnificence, which it still displays, after hav- 
ing been three times burnt and having ten times expe- 
rienced the horrors of war. Its final ruin, however, did 
not arise from those causes, but after the greater part 
of the building had been restored to its former splendor 
in 1718-20 ; it was set on fire by lightning in 1764, 
since which time it has never been rebuilt or tenanted. 
It is at present only a collection of red stone walls, and 
has remained roofless for nearly a century." 

Descending the hill by a steep path leading to the 
town we passed two young Bavarian princesses, mount- 
ed on donkeys, returning from a visit to the castle. 
We drove across the bridge to get a view of the castle 
hanging on the rocky steep, as seen from the other 
side of the Neckar, which our intelligent female-guide 
told us was the finest view of this interesting ruin that 
could be obtained. In this we found her taste was 
equal to her intelligence ; for nothing could be finer 
than the picture presented from the further bank of the 
river. The higher mountains in the background ; the 
forest-crowned hill-tops adjacent to that on which the 
castle stands ; the trees and shrub uery of the castle- 
gardens ; the beetling front of the rocky steep below 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 329 

the castle - walls ; the crumbling towers and broken 
arches ; the ivy-clothed battlements, and the naked 
buttresses — all stood out to view, as seen from this 
point of observation. 

But it was time to leave for Frankfort on the 
Main ; so we hastened to the railroad station, and in 
two hours' time, we had passed over another stretch of 
fifty miles of the level valley of the Rhine, and were 
at the depot in Frankfort. 

This is a beautiful city, wearing a modern aspect, 
and I doubt not is a delightful place of residence. It 
has not many objects of attraction to a mere casual 
visiter. The statue of Goethe, the great German 
poet and author, who was born in this city, which oc- 
cupies a conspicuous position on a public square, is a 
fine piece of work, and is well worth seeing. There 
is also a very celebrated piece of sculpture in the gar- 
den of Mr. Bethman — an Ariadne by Daiinecker, 
which always claims a visit from the traveller. 

The drives around the city are most charming. A 
wide, beautiful road almost entirely encircles the city, 
bordered with the most lovely walks, embowered in 
shrubbery, with elegant villas and suburban country- 
seats scattered along, displaying great taste in the ar- 
rangement of the grounds ; the distribution of statuary ; 
the location of the ornamental houses, and in all that 
constitutes true beauty in a villa. A very fine style of 
work in buck-horn is executed here. It is wrought 
into brooches, ear-rings, bracelets, and various other 
ornaments, which are very handsome, and display great 
skill in their execution. They are said to be made en- 
tirely by hand, with the aid of small knives, and deli- 
cate instruments. Very fine specimens of Bohemian 
glass are also abundant lere. We only had time to 



330 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

look at some of the shops containing these works, and 
to drive about the city for an hour or two, before the 
time arrived for us to leave for Weisbaden, the place 
at which I now write. 

The road from Frankfort to this place lies through 
one of the finest wine districts on the Rhine. The 
face of the country is beautiful. Mountains are in 
sight all the way. The railroad approaches the river 
just opposite to the city of Mayence, which with its 
domes, towers, and church-steeples, bathed in the light 
of the setting sun, presented a fine appearance as we 
approached it on yesterday evening. Here a branch 
of the road turns off at nearly right angles and runs 
out a few miles into the hill country to this city. 

Weisbaden, like Baden-Baden, is a great watering 
place. Here, as at that fashionable and gay resort, 
we found men and women, thronghig the gilded saloons 
of the Kio'saal, and busily engaged in trying " to solve 
the mysteries of rouge et noir.^'' It is amazing to see 
what amounts of money are won and lost at this 
fashionable stjde of gambling, especially at this place 
and at Baden-Baden. I saw a man take a whole hand- 
ful of Napoleons, worth about four dollars each, and 
throw them down, without counting them, as a stake 
upon a color, and in less than fifteen seconds, they were 
cither raked in by the table, or pushed aside to him with 
the amount doubled. Sometimes he would win rapidly 
for awhile, and then hundreds of dollars would slip 
away from him in a few moments. He was about the 
only person, of the hundreds — men and women — 
whom I saw engaged in this gaming, that betrayed the 
least degree of excitement. 

It is the ton to gamble here. Everybody is expected 
to take a hand ; and especially on Sunday afternoon, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 331 

when the public gardens, adjoining the Kursaal or gam- 
bling saloon, are crowded with visiters, and the splendid 
band discoursing sweet music from the balcony above 
the door ; and the fountain in front throws its jet of 
water from seventy to a hundred feet in the air ; and 
when the beauty, intelligence, and fashion of Weisba- 
den, and the surrounding country, together with the 
numerous visiters to the place from abroad, are prom- 
enading the beautiful grounds, and pressing around 
the gambling tables in the brilliant and gay saloons. 1 
saw mothers and their daughters ; fathers and their 
sons; young men and maidens; old men with gray 
hairs and old women with dyed hair, all engaged in 
betting ; and always maintaining a quietness and 
gravity that utterly surprised me. No one was com- 
plimented on his success, and none jeered or sym- 
pathized with in their losses. It was all performed in 
such a cool, business-like manner, that I wondered any 
one should be fascinated by it. 

The hot springs of this place arc very much like 
those at Baden-Baden, and the baths pretty much the 
same. There are fourteen springs here, quite as hot as 
those at Baden-Baden, from which the steam rises in 
clouds, and in which eggs can be easily cooked in a 
few moments. These waters are extensively used, 
both internally and for bathing purposes, as a remedy for 
various forms of disease. During the last season there 
were more than thirty thousand visiters to this place. 

Weisbaden is a pretty city of itself, with a popula- 
tion of seventeen thousand. It is the seat of the palace 
of the duke of the duchy of Nassau, and he expends 
large amounts of money on the grounds and public 
buildings annually, in order to render it attractive and 
inviting to visiters. There are walks and drives ex- 
tending for miles in every direction from the city, 



332 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

which lead into the most rural and charming spots, and 
from which lovely landscapes and agreeable views are 
spread out to the eye. The scenery is not so bold and 
grand as that about Baden-Baden, but it is scarcely 
less attractive, as it combines so many elements of 
beauty in its landscapes. 

A walk of fifteen minutes from the western confines 
of the town, conducts one by a retired path to one of 
the most interesting and beautiful objects anywhere to 
be seen in Europe. It is the magnificent mausoleum, 
in the form of a most splendid and gorgeous Greek 
chapel, built by the present duke of Nassau as a place 
of depository for the remains of his first wife, who was 
a Russian princess. It is one of the most superb things 
in its way that has ever been reared, and was erected 
at an expense of more than a million of dollars. It 
stands upon a lofty elevation, at the head of a valley, 
commanding a view of the town, and all the country 
around, for many miles beyond the Rhine. The exterior 
walls, are of a fine building material found in the 
country ; the interior, from top to bottom is lined with 
various kinds of the most elegantly . polished marble 
and precious stones. The floor is of marble of various 
colors white, black, and variegated, laid down in a 
tesselated style, and polished as smooth as glass. The 
windows are of elegant stained glass ; and the paint- 
ings and frescoes are executed in the finest style. In 
an apartment prepared for the purpose is a recumbent 
marble effigy of the princess, executed by Hopfgarten, 
which is a magnificent piece of sculpture. The whole 
structure is surmounted with three beautiful domes, gilt 
with gold, and after the style of the Greek churches in 
Constantinople. Altogether it is a superb and splendid 
piece of architecture, with the most tasteful and ex- 
pensive decorations. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 333 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

COLOGNE — ANTWERP — BRUSSELS. 

Biebrich. — Palace and Gardens. — Passaj^e down the Rhine. — Scenery. 

— Cathedral m Cologne. — The City. — Paintings. — Eaii de Co- 
logne. — Bridge of Boats. — From Cologne to Antwerp. — Face of 
the Country. — Aix la Chapelle. — Customhouse. — Railroad. — 
Scenery by the Way. — Liege. — Manufactures. — Sir Walter Scott's 
Quentin Durward. — Louvain. — Antwerp. — Cathedral. — Rubens' 
Descent from the Cross. — St. Paul's. — Calvary. — Museum. — Artists. 

— From Antwerp to Brussels. — Mechlin. — Vilvorde. — Brussels. — 
Visit to Battle-Fields of Waterloo. — Anecdotes of Sargeant Mundy. — 
Cathedral in Brussels. — Zoological Gardens. — Mr. L'Atlier do 
Wiertz the Artist. — Brussels Lace. — Process of Manufacture — 
Value. 

Cologne, Ma?/ 19. — The place of sweet scents of 
course, as this is the headquarters of eau de Cologne, 
and of all sorts of scents, if Coleridge is good authority 
on such matters. From the little I have seen I am in- 
clined to think that the great poet is quite as good 
authority on questions of scent, as on questions of 
taste. 

We left Wiesbaden this morning at an early hour, and 
rode down to Biebrich, the place at which we were to 
take the steamboat, at nine o'clock, for the passage down 
the Rhine. 

Biebrich is the seat of the summer-palace of the 
Duke of Nassau, and the garden and park are on a 



334 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

magnificent scale. We spent an hour or more, walking- 
over these delightful grounds, where we met with more 
to charm and please, than in any villa, or royal prom- 
enade, that we have thus far met with in Europe. 
Everything is upon a splendid scale, and in very de- 
cidedly fine taste. The park must embrace, at least, 
one hundred acres, every part of which is laid off in 
the finest style, and every turn of the winding paths 
open some new and lovely prospect to the eye. Snowy 
statuary glancing out from the deep green of the em- 
bowering trees ; quiet lakes sleeping in beauty, or 
broken into playful circles by the majestic swans that 
sported upon their waters ; mimic castles, with mote, 
and bridge, and tower ; artificial cascades, pouring over 
rugged rocks ; bowers of trellis-work, overrun with 
vines ; rippling streams, spanned by rustic bridges, and 
flowers of every hue, in endless variety, formed but a 
part of the numberless objects that were combined in 
the picture sketches that lay before us, in the bright 
and cheerful sunshine of the early morning that suc- 
ceeded a stormy night. 

The passage down the Rhine, from Biebrich which 
is but a few miles below Mayence, to Cologne, embraces 
all of that portion of this noble and renowned river 
which is regarded by travellers as the most interesting 
and worthy of notice. It is in itself, perhaps, all that 
tourists have represented it to be, in point of grandeur 
and picturesque beauty ; but, apart from its ruined 
castles and the historic associations that cluster around 
the time-honored architectural piles that crown almost 
every crag and rocky promontory upon its shores, there 
are many rivers in America that far surpass it, in my 
humble judgment, in point of sublimity, grandeur, 
extent, and beauty of natural scenery. If the James 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 335 

river, in Virginia, from Richmond to Covington, a dis- 
tance of nearly three hundred miles, had on its hill- 
tops, and rocky steeps, and lofty mountains, the same 
old castle-walls, gray with time and mantled with ivy — 
the same ancient fortresses, and towers, and battle- 
ments — the same cities, and towns, and villages ; and 
if every skirt of level ground upon the banks, and 
every sunny slope rising from the water's edge, was 
brought under the same culture and planted with vines ; 
and every precipitous steep was terraced, or built up 
with parapets from base to summit, as is the case upon 
the Rhine — it would be far more magnificent and at- 
tractive ; for it would far exceed it in extent, grandeur, 
beauty, and every other element which has gained for 
the Rhine the fame which it enjoys as the most pictur- 
esque, grand, and romantic river in the world. I repeat, 
it is the history, not the superior adjacent and border- 
ing scenery, which has acquired for the Rhine its bound- 
less and matchless fame. 

May 20. — That which most engages the attention 
of the stranger in Cologne is the great cathedral, 
which, though unfinished, is projected upon a scale 
so grand, and is, as far as completed, so magnificent, 
that it is fully entitled to the rank which it holds, 
as one of the first objects of interest in Europe, in the 
way of church architecture. It has been more than 
five hundred years since this splendid edifice was com- 
menced, and should it be carried out to its full and 
perfect completion, on the plan projected, it will be the 
finest and purest piece of Gothic architecture in the 
form of a cathedral on the continent. At present, the 
work is prosecuted with some degree of vigor and de- 
spatch ; but a century will probably elapse before the 
edifice is finished. It is said that it will be completed 



336 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

in tlie space of the next twenty years ; but this is not 
at all probable. It will require an immense amount of 
money to carry out the plan of the building in all its 
details. Very large appropriations are annually made 
at this time by the present king of Prussia for the fur- 
therance of this great work ; but it is estimated that it 
will require at least three millions of dollars yet to 
finish the building. Between the years 1824 and 1842, 
nearly two hundred thousand dollars were expended in 
repairs of the portions of the edifice first finished ; and 
it will now require large expenditures to replace the 
decayed and decaying stone from the Drachenfels, by 
another of a sounder and more enduring texture. The 
entire length of the body of the church is five hundred 
and eleven feet, the width two hundred and thirty one ; 
and the height of the towers, when finished, will be 
five hundred and eleven feet — the height being equal 
to the length. 

I stood in this great edifice on this evening, and heard 
strains of music from the powerful organ, sustained by 
a thousand voices, all rolling in solemn, majestic gran- 
deur through the vast cathedral, that made my heart 
tremble with the most intense emotion. It was a great 
church festival, and an immense concourse was attracted 
to the church. When I entered, a priest was deliver- 
ing a most earnest and animated discourse. The people 
were standing — for it is an exceedingly rare thing to 
meet with seats in Roman catholic churches, in Europe — 
a,nd listening with unusually deep attention. When the 
discourse was ended the music commenced, and I do 
not remember anywhere else to have seen so many of 
the congregation join in the singing. It is wonderful 
what an effect sublime and imposing architecture has 
upon one's mind in a place of religious worship, where 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 337 

the pealing notes of the organ, combining with thou- 
sands of human voices, reverberate through high soaring 
arches, and among the giant columns, and along the 
resounding walls of a vast cathedral. 

Cologne is a large city of ninety thousand inhabitants, 
standing principally on the left bank of the Rhine, 
which at this place runs nearly in a north direction. It 
has some fine public buildings, and some tolerably hand- 
some streets, but for the most part it is unprepossessing, 
and certainly is the most intolerably offensive place to 
the olfactories that I have seen in Europe. It has had 
this reputation for many years, and I can not believe 
that it has improved materially in this regard. It 
would take all the eau de Cologne that has ever been 
manufactured in the city to make it agreeable to the 
smell. 

It has the honor of having been the birthplace and 
the residence of several great artists, and in its 
churches, which are numerous, and in the private galler- 
ies of some of its wealthy citizens, there are preserved 
some of the finest paintings by Vandyke, Rembrandt, and 
Rubens. The Crucifixion by Rubens in the church 
of Saint Peter, has been regarded as one of the finest 
paintings in the world ; but has been so much injured 
by the climate and impaired by other causes that 
scarcely any one realizes his expectations in seeing it 
for the first time. I think the copy of the same picture 
by Rubens himself, found in the private gallery of a 
distinguished architect of Cologne, whose name has es- 
caped me, is far more perfect, and every way equal to 
the painting in Saint Peter's. In this private gallery, 
which is generously thrown open to visiters, there are 
also several of Vandyke's and Rembrandt's best pic- 
tures. 

16 



838 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

The Cologne water manufactured in this city has gain- 
ed the name of being the finest in the world ; and the 
name which is seen on all the bottles nearly that are 
sold has been assumed by a number of manufacturers. 
This name is something like the wood of the true cross, it 
can be multiplied to any extent which circumstances may 
demand. There is a bridge of boats, or more properly 
a bridge on boats, connecting the two parts of the city, 
which lie on the two sides of the Rhine. The weather 
has been bad since I have been in this city, and my im- 
pressions are by no means agreeable. Two days are 
quite sufficient for Cologne. 

Antwerp, Mai/ 21. — We left Cologne by rail yester- 
day at one o'clock, and a delightful ride of eight hours 
over a most interesting portion of country, brought us 
to this large and important city. 

Leaving the banks of the Rhine, the road stretches 
across the valley in the direction of Aix la Chapelle, 
which lies at a distance of forty-three miles, nearly 
south west from Cologne. On this route there is but lit- 
tle that attracts attention, except the dark soil, which 
seems to be under an exceedingly fine system of culti- 
vation, and which produces wheat, rye, corn, and all 
the other crops of the country, in great abundance. 
Aix la Chapelle has a population of more than fifty 
thousand and is pretty extensively engaged in the man- 
ufacture of cloth. Recently an extensive and impor- 
tant manufacture of looking-glasses has been put in 
operation here, by a French company. But the place 
is chiefly noted for its warm springs. It is the birth- 
place, as it is generally believed, of Charlemagne, and 
it is certain he died here in 814 ; and to him the city is 
chiefly indebted for its importance. It has been the 
scene of several very important church councils, and 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 339 

also of great congresses of belligerent nations, at which 
peace treaties have been formed. But every one at all 
acquainted with history is familiar with the highly im- 
portant and interesting events connected with Aix la 
Chapelle. 

From Aix la Chapelle to Malines, a distance of one 
hundred miles, the whole face of the country presents a 
different aspect from that of the valley of the Rhine. 
The railroad penetrates a wild mountainous region, and 
the eye is regaled and delighted with the shifting scenes 
which are constantly bursting upon the vision, in the 
onward progress of the snorting steam-horse that carries 
the thundering train through this highly picturesque 
and interesting section of the country. Between Aix 
la Chapelle and Verviers, we pass out of Prussia into 
Belgium, and at Verviers pass the customhouse with the 
usual examinations of luggage. But here we met with 
a gentlemanly set of officers, who did their business in 
a most polite and respectful manner, and on learning 
that we were Americans, travelling for pleasure and to 
gain information, they scarcely displaced an article in 
our well-packed trunks. 

Verviers is a thrifty manufacturing town, of thirty 
thousand inhabitants, and occupies a very handsome 
and agreeable situation on the Vesdre, a river the wa- 
ter of which is said to possess properties which fit it 
admirably for dyeing purposes. The cloths manufac- 
tured here have the character of being better, as sec- 
ond-rate fabrics, than those of England or France, and 
are exported in large quantities to America and Italy. 
From these looms the Belgian army is clothed. 

Leaving Verviers the railroad lies along the course 
of the Vesdre, a winding stream, walled in with high 
hills, that approach the little valley, through which the 



340 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

clear cool waters seek an outlet from their imprison- 
ment in rugged steeps, and promontories, presenting all 
the angles and curves of geometry. It would seem that 
a bold engineer had chosen this line for a road, to de- 
monstrate the triumphs of human skill, and to show that 
nature has no barriers or impediments too formidable 
for the genius of man. So tortuous is the stream, and 
so numerous the ridges pierced by tunnels, the road has 
been compared to a needle run through a corkscrew. 
Between Yerviers and Liege, a distance of thirty-four 
miles, there are nineteen tunnels and about the same 
number of bridges ; and along the whole route there 
are scattered in rapid succession, manufacturing towns 
and pleasant villages, with most delightful villas, sur- 
rounded with gardens and pleasure-grounds, and lovely 
walks, interspersing the hills and valleys, which give a 
charming and romantic appearance to the face of the 
country. The approach to Liege presents a magnifi- 
cent landscape. It is situated in a valley, begirt with 
hills of grand and graceful outline, at the junction of 
the Our the and Meuse, which bear their tribute of wa- 
ters to the British channel. It is altogether a manufac- 
turing town of one hundred thousand inhabitants, and 
produces firearms equal in quality and at cheaper 
rates than even England or France. It is indeed the 
great armory of Belgium. Nor is it without its highly- 
interesting literary and historical recollections. It has 
been the scene of frequent bloody revolutions, in the 
efforts made by the people struggling for freedom from 
the despotic power of the bishops, who in the tenth cen- 
tury were raised to the rank of sovereign and indepen- 
dent princes by the German emperors. This oppres- 
sive power, however, was not entirely broken until the 
time of the French invasion in 1794. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 341 

Sir Walter Scott's " Quentin Durward" contains a 
glowing description of the principal events connected 
with these protracted struggles. It is one of that great 
novelist's most truthful romances. And although he 
had never seen Liege, his descriptions of localities are 
singularly accurate ; so much so that it is hard to 
believe he had not actually seen them with his own eyes. 

From Liege, the train of cars is drawn up an inclin- 
ed plane of two miles in length, by two stationary en- 
gines of eighty-horse power ; and from the highest 
point of this inclined plane, looking back, there is pre- 
sented one of the most grand and magnificent land- 
scapes that anywhere greets the eye of the traveller 
over the great lines of railroad through this part of 
Europe. 

The road hence to Malines, and from Malines to 
Antwerp lies through the finest agricultural district of 
Belgium. The soil is extremely fine, and the agricul- 
tural products most abundant. And there is scarcely 
a town or village on the whole route that has not an 
interesting history of its own. I must mention Lou- 
vain. It is a city of very ancient origin. Its founda- 
tion has been attributed to Julius Caesar. There are 
the remains of a celebrated old castle here, in which, 
it is said, Edward III. of England lived for one year, 
and that the Emperor Charles Y. was brought up in it. 

Just outside the walls of this city, the memorable 
engagement between the Dutch and Belgians took 
place in August, 1831, during the sanguinary conflicts 
laetween these hostile powers. In this battle the Bel- 
gians were commanded by Leopold in person ; but in 
the heat of the struggle the Belgians forsook their 
king and fled, and he narrowly escaped falling into the 
hands of the prince of Orange. 



X 



842 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

The Roman Catholic university at this place was 
suppressed by the French in 1794. It was re-establish- 
ed by the King of Holland in 1817 ; and since 1836 it 
has again become the nursing mother of Romish priests 
for Belgium. It numbers, at present, six or seven 
hundred students. In the sixteenth century it enjoyed 
the reputation of being the best university in Europe, 
and at that time had as many as six thousand students. 
The city at present only numbers twenty-four thou- 
sand inhabitants. 

Antwerp has suffered several great reverses of for- 
tune. Its present population is ninety thousand. In 
the sixteenth century, when it was at the height of 
its prosperity, it numbered two hundred" thousand in- 
habitants, and was the richest and most powerful com- 
mercial city in Europe. It is even now, a splendid- 
looking place, with its elegant mansions, broad streets, 
fine parks, squares, walls, boulevards, and public 
buildings. 

It has a cathedral which is a superb piece of architec- 
ture, and is enriched with some of the finest pictures, 
and adorned with the most elaborate and highly- 
wrought carvings in wood of any church in the Neth- 
erlands. Rubens' great masterpiece, the Descent 
from the Cross, which has so long attracted visiters to 
this church, is now in the hands of an artist for re- 
pairs and retouching. It has been out of the church for 
two or three years, but will be returned to its place in 
a very short time from the present. But it is to be 
feared that this great painting, like the Last Supper, 
by Leonardo da Yinci, at Milan, will not be improved 
by the hand of another. It is a dangerous experiment 
to submit the painting of a great master, to one of in- 
ferior genius, or, even to one of a different style of 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 343 

genius, if I may so speak, however great, for improve- 
ments and repairs. I have seen several that must have 
been greatly injured, if one half is true that has been 
said in praise of them before they were retouched. 
The Last Supper is almost entirely ruined. It is to be 
feared that the Descent from the Cross will not be ma- 
terially improved. But I am no artist — no critic. 
This cathedral is five hundred feet long, and two hun- 
dred and fifty feet wide, with a steeple four hundred 
and three feet high ; one of the loftiest in the world. 

I and my party, according to established custom in 
such cases, ascended as high as there is any means of 
ascent. There is a fine chime of bells in this church- 
tower, which plays some beautiful snatches from difi^er- 
ent operas, every half-quarter of an hour. This is all 
done by the machinery of the clock. There are other 
churches in this old city which are very fine ; but to one 
who has visited the cathedrals and churches of Italy, 
there is nothing to attract particular notice. 

There is a curious piece of work adjoining the church 
of Saint Paul, which is worthy of notice. It is a repre- 
sentation of Calvary. This is well-described in Murray's 
Guide : "An artificial eminence raised against the 
walls of the church, covered with slag or rock work, 
and planted with statues of saints, angels, prophets, 
and patriarchs. On the summit is the crucifixion, and 
at the bottom is a grotto, copied or imitated, it is said, 
from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On entering it 
the body of Christ is seen encircled with vestments of 
silk and muslin ; while on the face of the rock, near 
the entrance, are attached boards carved and painted 
to represent the glowing flames of purgatory, in the 
midst of which appear a number of faces, bearing the 
expression of agony, and intended to remind the spec- 



344 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

tator of the suffering of the souls of the wicked in that 
place of torment.'' 

I was pleased with my visit to the museum or academy 
of painting. It has a number of the best paintings 
by Rubens, Vandyke, Rembrandt, Jordaens, and other 
masters of high repute. 

The house occupied by Rubens, and in which he 
died, is pointed out to visiters. He was born in Cologne, 
but died in this city, and his remains are interred in 
the church of Saint Jacques, where a marble slab, let 
into the pavement, records his epitaph. There is a fine 
statue of Rubens, also, in the centre of a park in the 
very heart of the city. Vandyke, Teniers, Jordaens, 
and the remarkable Quentin Matsys, to say nothing 
of others of high repute, were all born in Antwerp or 
its neighborhood ; and the churches, as well as the 
academy of painting, contain a great many of the best 
pieces from these men, of whom the city is proud. 

Brussels, May 21. — As I rode over the delightful 
country this evening, lying between Antwerp and this 
lirilliant and beautiful city, I could not but remark how 
much a bright sky and unclouded sunshine added to 
the loveliness of the scenery and landscapes that pre- 
sent themselves to the eye of the traveller. To-day is 
the first really fine day we have enjoyed since we en- 
tered Switzerland by the Simplon on the morning of the 
«]th instant. We have had occasional snatches of sun- 
shine, and a few patches now and then of blue sky ; but, 
for the most part during that whole period, the heavens 
have been shrouded in murky clouds, and the face of 
nature veiled in dismal gloom. During the whole of 
our tour through Switzerland there were only a few 
brief hours at a time in which the clouds were lifted 
from the face and summits of the great Alpine ranges, 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 345 

or the sunshine fell upon the bosom of the lakes of this 
wild and romantic land. A few glimpses of Mont 
Blanc, Jungfrau, and others of the cloud-cleaving peaks 
of the Alpine ranges, were all that we enjoyed. To-day 
the genial sunshine came down on the green earth, and 
everything wore a cheerful and happy air and expression. 

The town of Malines or Mechlin is midway between 
Antwerp and Brussels. It is the point of departure 
from which four railroads ramify through Belgium. It is 
situated on the Dyle, and has a population of about thirty 
thousand inhabitants. This is the place at which the 
Mechlin lace, which has made such a noise in the beau 
monde, is manufactured. It is also distinguished as being 
the birthplace of Ernest Count Mansfield, the celebra- 
ted leader in the thirty years' war, of Michael Coexis, 
the scholar and imitator of Raphael, and of Dodonaeus, 
the botanist. 

Between Malines and Brussels there is a beautiful 
little town called Vilvorde. It is celebrated in the his- 
tory of the modern translations of the Bible, as the 
place at which Tindal, the translator of the Scriptures 
into the English language, suffered martyrdom as a 
heretic in 1536, being strangled at a stake and then 
burnt outside the town. A penitentiary now stands on 
the site of his prison. 

The approach to Brussels is fine. The city presents 
a new, bright, and cheerful appearance. A few random 
strolls about its public grounds, and elegant streets have 
favorably impressed me as to the general beauty of the 
city. It resembles Paris in many respects, and is not 
improperly called, " little Paris." From all that I can 
see and learn, it bears a- strong resemblance to that 
mistress of fashion, folly, and licentiousness, in other re- 
gards than in its outward appearance. To-morrow we 

15* 



346 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

shall visit tlie battle-field of Waterloo, and for the pres- 
ent, at a late hour of the night, I resign my pen for the 
slumber which begins to hang lead upon my eyelids. 

Brussels, May 22. — To-day I visited the battle-field 
of Waterloo, lying about twelve miles southeast of this 
city. There was a small party of us in company, com- 
posed of English, French, and Americans. The ride 
by stage-coach occupied two hours. On leaving the 
city the road was filled for a mile or so, with children 
from five to ten or twelve years of age, who ran by the 
coach, and turned somersets, and performed various 
other antics to attract attention, keeping up a clamor- 
ous begging all the time. Some stood on their heads 
until the coach nearly ran over them, in order to attract 
attention and thereby get a few pennies. Besides these 
dirty ragged little children, there was another and more 
deserving class of beggars, who importuned us for alms. 
They were the blind; several of whom led by little 
girls, ran by the coach and urged us in piteous accents, 
by the love of God, to give them something. 

We passed the forest of Soig-ne, which is crowded for 
a few miles with a species of beech-tree, very tall, and 
as straight as the mountain pines of Switzerland. Noth- 
ing else worthy of notice attracted attention, until we 
passed through the village of Waterloo, where the 
house was pointed out in which Lord Raglan, who was 
wounded in the battle, had his arm amputated ; and the 
house also, in which the late Marquis of Anglesea had 
his leg taken off. This leg was carefully buried in the 
yard, by the man whose family still occupies the house, 
and the boot which was on the leg is still preserved, 
and the family derives large revenue annually from the 
exhibition of the boot, which is shown to visiters at a 
franc per head. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 347 

At the little hotel near the battle-field we were cour 
teously greeted by Sergeant Mundy, who himself, was 
in the hottest of the engagement, and who took our 
party in hand as guide, to conduct us over the field, 
and point out all the localities occupied by the French 
and the English with their allies, respectively, and to 
describe and explain to us all that was of most interest, 
connected with the fierce and hard-fought battle of that 
day, which has exerted a more powerful and decisive 
influence upon the fortunes of Europe for the last forty- 
two years, than any other event in the annals of modern 
European history. Sergeant Mundy is more than sixty 
years of age, and although he received wounds on the 
field of Waterloo which have crippled him to some ex- 
tent, he still walks as briskly as a young man of twenty, 
and descants upon the scenes of the battle on the 19th 
of June, 1814, with all the enthusiasm, zest, and anima- 
tion of a youthful warrior just from the field of carnage, 
with his laurels green upon his ardent brow. He never 
tires in repeating his story. It is always fresh and 
new. The same anecdotes are related in the same 
place and connection, and the same compliments paid 
to the bravery, daring and heroism of the French sol- 
diery, in every tour he makes of the field, with his in- 
terested auditors crowding around him. The Sergeant 
points out the different points occupied by the seventh 
hussars, to which he belonged, at different hours of the 
day, and in the critical moments of that hotly-contested 
field. 

At one point in the tour he stops, and says, on this 
wise : " Gentlemen and ladies, I have often heard blus- 
tering young men, who have been in battles, say, that 
they gloried in being in the thickest of the fight, and 
were fond of the music of bullets whistling around them ; 



048 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and that they never felt so well, as when they were 
most exposed to the fire of the enemy ; but gentlemen, 
I am free to say that when our regiment was ordered 
from that hill yonder" (pointing to the elevation on 
which his regiment was stationed), " where the shot 
from the French batteries were fast thinning our ranks, to 
descend into that valley" (pointing to the spot), " where 
the bullets went over our heads, that was the most 
pleasant part of the day to me." 

At another point he stops and points out the place 
where the " old guards" were required to lie under the 
brow of a hill, waiting for the command of the chief 
officer of the day, to join in the bloody struggle. He 
relates that the duke of Wellington frequently passed 
near these soldiers lying on the ground, where they 
were frequently visited by shells from the enemy's mor- 
tars. On one occasion as he passed along, he states 
that an old soldier called out to the duke, and said : 
" How long are we to remain here ? Are we to lie still 
and be murdered ?" The duke waved a silence, and 
promised them some work worthy of their swords, at a 
proper time. The decisive moment finally arrived. 
The French in solid phalanx were rising the hill, and 
pressing up to the mouths of the cannons, just in the 
rear of which the " guards" were lying. The battle 
seemed to be turning in favor of the enemy : just then, 
when within a few paces of the guns, the old duke is 
reported to have said, " Up, guards, and at 'em .'" The 
slaughter was awful ; and that onset of " the guards" 
turned the fortunes of that day. Soon Blucher was 
upon the field with fifteen thousand Prussians, attacking 
the French upon the right flank and rear ; and the go- 
ing down of the sun of that day, after hours of the 
mo?t despernte conflict, witnessed the flight of Bona- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 349 

parte from the field, and the retreat of the French le- 
gions from a bloody contest in which they displayed sig- 
nal valor and bravery, but lost the day, by one of those 
accidents of war, as they are called , which no human fore- 
sight could ward off. It is very certain that the French 
were not defeated by cowardice or for want of heroism. 

It is related by Sergeant Mundy, and is a matter of 
history, that while the English troops were in the little 
orchard, as it is called, surrounded by a brick wall, 
and were shooting through port-holes broken in the 
wall, the French actually pressed up to the muzzles of 
the muskets, and tried to wrench them out of the hands 
of their enemies. But all these things are matters of 
history, and the world has long ago made up its verdict 
on this great battle. It is nevertheless exceedingly 
interesting to pass over the field, and hear Sergeant 
Mundy describe the events of the day. Some of them 
are amusing ; others are most deeply moving, and 
touching. 

He relates an anecdote of one of the old peasants 
who had charge of the poultry and pigs at Hougoumont, 
which was midway between the two armies on the eve 
of the battle. Under the directions of the duke of 
Wellington, the garden-walls, adjoining the dwellings, 
and just now alluded to, were prepared with port-holes, 
and everything was put in readiness about the grounds ; 
for the duke intended to occupy that point. The peas- 
ants were advised of what was to take place on the 
approaching day, and were requested to abandon the 
premises, which they all did forthwith, except the old 
woman referred to, who had the charge just mentioned. 
She did not seem fully to comprehend what was going 
on. She saw them all leave. She sat awhile in si- 
lence, and was again urged to depart. She said, " No ; 



350 EANDOM SKETCHES AND 

they are all gone now ; and if I go away, who will 
take care of the poultry and the pigs ?" She remained ; 
and strange to say, though the house was riddled over 
her head, and the hottest part of the protracted strug- 
gle was around the house in which she was seated, no 
damage befell her. But she was often heard to say 
that, as she sat there alone and prayed, all day, with 
the bullets and cannon-balls tearing everything in pieces 
around her, she often wished she had left with the other 
members of the household the night before. She often 
told this story, said Sergeant Mundy, and for telling 
it received many a franc from visiters. 

There is no end to the relics offered for sale to visit- 
ers here. They multiply like the wood of the true 
cross. Bullets, buckles, hilts of swords, eagles, and a 
thousand other things are offered for sale to visiters, by 
persons who say they have ploughed them up upon the 
field of Waterloo. Some are, indeed, real relics ; but 
the great mass are made to order, and buried at con- 
venient places, to supply the demand. 

There is an immense mound on this field, which is 
two hundred and forty feet high, and sixteen hundred 
and eighty feet in circumference, which was raised by 
the Belgian government as a monument to the prince 
of Orange, who was wounded on this spot. It is sur- 
mounted with the Belgic Lion, and forms a most 
prominent object, which may be seen at a considerable 
distance over the surrounding country. 

On our return to Brussels the coachman, who was a 
man of some information, told us a great many tradi- 
tionary stories connected with the battle of Waterloo. 
Among others he related that the cook, who was order- 
ed, by the duke of Wellington, to prepare dinner for 
him on the day of the battle, at the house which he oc- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 351 

cupied in the village of Waterloo, was frequently urged 
to fly for his life. He was told by persons who ran by 
him that the French were slaying everything before 
them, and that it would cost him his life to remain. 
Eut he steadfastly refused ; and said that his master 
had often told him to prepare his dinner for him, and 
he had never disappointed him yet ; and that he should 
hold on, and have the dinner as directed. The duke 
did dine there, but it was a little after his usual hour. 
Bonaparte was to have taken his dinner at Brussels 
that evening ; in this he was sadly disappointed. Ser- 
geant Mundy humorously remarked that he got be- 
nighted on his way, and failed to meet his engagement. 

Brussels, May 23. — This whole day has been de- 
voted to the objects worthy of notice in Brussels. Its 
cathedral, which has the most elaborately-wrought piece 
of ornamental woodwork, for a pulpit in the world: 
its churches, museum, town-hall, with a superb tower, 
armory, and zoological gardens. These latter are real- 
ly worth visiting. The gardens, as grounds, are in 
themselves most beautiful and interesting. They em- 
brace a fine variety of surface, with lake and mound 
and hill and valley, all decked with shrubs and flowers, 
and crowned with trees, and chequered with walks, and 
winding ways. Then, for an institution so young, it 
has an extensive variety of animals and birds and 
fowls, some exceedingly curious and rare. 

But nothing interested me so much in Brussels as the 
chateau of Mr. L'A.tlier de Wiertz, which stands out- 
side the walls of the city, and not remote from the 
zoological gardens. Mr. Wiertz is a rare genius. He 
is an artist who paints after no models, no copies, ex- 
cept such as he creates in his own most wonderful im- 
agination. He never finishes anything. His castle, 



352 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

which is built after his own device, is a huge, misshapen, 
strange-looking establishment. The walls are not com- 
plete. The pillars and towers are but half finished. 
The roof looks as though it had been partly consumed 
by fire, and patched up again. The outer walls are 
partly stuccoed, but not entire. The grounds about 
the castle differ from all others I have seen. There are 
incomplete pieces of statuary scattered among the 
shrubbery and flowers, and shaded by strangely-trimmed 
trees. The man himself is a curiosity. He is a Ger- 
man by birth, but has been residing for some time at 
Brussels ; and the ground on which his castle is built, 
was given to him by the government, as a compliment 
to his genius, and to prevent his removal from the city. 
He never goes out in company, and it is a rare occur- 
rence that he is ever seen, even by those who visit his 
gallery of paintings. He has constructed a most ex- 
tensive apartment in his unique castle, as a gallery for 
the exhibition of the rare productions of his pencil. It 
is lighted from the roof; occupies the ground floor; 
has fine elevation, and is admirably well adapted to 
its purposes. Our party was received by a slatternly 
dressed servant-girl, who admitted us to the gallery, and 
received the little fee of admittance, only a half-franc 
for each person ; that done, she retired, and we saw no 
one besides, except a glimpse which v/e caught of 
Wiertz himself, who was engaged in planting some flow- 
ers or shrubs, on our entrance into the enclosure around 
his castle. But he did not remain for us to see him 
again. His paintings are altogether unlike anything 
else in the world. They are the creations of his own 
sublime genius, projected upon an immense scale, and 
executed, as I think, with wonderful skill and ability. 
It would be fruitless to attempt to describe them. For 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 353 

example, he has three large paintings intended to 
represent man in three stages : one living ; the next 
in the expiring gasp of death ; the third, one moment 
after death. And such pictures! They startle and 
surprise the beholder. 

Then he has paintings concealed behind a frame- 
work of boards and paper, which are to be seen only- 
through small apertures which he has prepared, so as 
to exhibit the painting with the best effect. Looking 
into one of these places, there is seen a man buried in 
a coffin, raising up the lid, and thrusting out one hand, 
and presenting a most ghastly and horrid appearance. 
It is so natural that one is shocked, and almost in- 
voluntarily shrieks out in dismay at the startling scene. 
Looking through another hole there is seen a young- 
female, peeping out through a half-opened door, and so 
true to life was this picture that every one of our party, 
each in his turn, shrunk back, as from the presence of 
a girl not suitably attired to receive company. Then, 
the paintings are so soft — so like flesh and blood. 
Th^y are wonders in their way. 

Mr. Wiertz has a book in this gallery for the regis- 
tration of the names of those who honor his paintings 
with a visit, and for the written opinions of each per- 
son respecting the merit of his works. Every one is 
at full liberty to write what he pleases in praise or con- 
demnation of his pictures. 

He does not admit that any of his paintings are 
finished. In some respects they are not complete. He 
does not offer anything for sale. All are kept on ex- 
hibition, and the gallery is open to visiters from nine 
o'clock in the morning, until four in the afternoon. 

I was, perhaps, nearly as much interested in the 
manufacturing of Brussels lace, as with the paintings 



354 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and genius of Mr, Wiertz, I was admitted to a large 
establishment where this article, which stands so high 
in the fashionable world, is made ; and had the satis- 
faction of witnessing the operation, by which it is pro- 
duced. The work is wholly wrought by hand, without 
the aid of any machinery whatever. The operatives 
are females — some of them considerably advanced in 
years. The process is extremely tedious. Some of 
them are engaged for more than a year at a time upon 
a piece of lace for a single handkerchief; indeed, in 
some instances, it would require a lifetime for one per- 
son to make the lace that is used in one handkerchief. 
There are some styles of lace, in the making of which, 
as many as a thousand spools of thread are used at one. 
time. I saw one of the females at work on a piece of 
ordinary Mechlin lace, in which she used three hundred 
spools. Habit has enabled those who work at this 
business to use the spools with wonderful skill and 
dexterity. The thread is spun of a fine quality of flax, 
and the best quality is literally worth its weight in gold. 
It is spun by females in the surrounding country, and 
in order to produce the finest thread it is necessary for 
the work to be done in rooms, into which but little 
light is admitted. The absence of light draws the at- 
tention more closely and constantly to the work, and 
this contributes to the production of a finer and more 
even thread. A great deal of the lace that is sold in 
Brussels, and called Brussels lace, is made by females 
scattered through the country, who work at their re- 
spective homes and sell the products of their labor to 
the merchants in Brussels who deal in this article. A 
great deal is made in and around Antwerp which is 
quite as good as that produced in and about Brussels. 
Indeed it is all sold as Brussels lace. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 355 

There were liandkercliiefs in the manufacturing es 
tablishnient which I visited to-day, which are held at 
from five hundred to a thousand dollars each — whole- 
sale prices — and even at these enormous prices, it is 
difficult to keep on hand a suilicient supply to meet the 
growing demand. 

After witnessing the process of making this expen- 
sive article, now so much used by ladies of fashion, 
I am not surprised that it sells so high in our country. 
For, by the time the merchant gets it to America, and 
pays the duty on the article, and puts on, say, even 
fifty per cent, profit, which is not a large per cent, for 
goods of this class, it must necessarily amount to a 
high price to the last purchaser. 



356 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PARIS AGAIN. 

Paris. — Its Influence. — Religious Aspects. — Amusements. — The Sab- 
bath. — Sevres. — Porcelain. — Versailles. — Gardens. — Le Grand 
Trianon. — Le Petit Trianon. — Queen Antoinette's Apartments. — 
Villa Grounds. — Palace. — Galleries of Paintings. — Grand Review 
on the Champs de Mars by the Emperor in Person. — Saint Denis. 

— Drive to Saint Cloud through the Bois de Bologne. — Palace of 
the Luxembourg. — Paintings. — Hotel de Cluny. — Its Curiosities. 

— French Habits and Customs. — Champs Elysees. — Sports and 
Amusements. — Public Gardens. — Chateau des Fleurs. — Jardin 
Mabille. — Jardin d'Hiver. — Excursion to Fontainebleau. — Its 
Palace and Forests. — Jardin des Plantes. — Palais de ITndustrie. — 
Cattle Show. — Pantheon. — Parisian Politeness. — Review on leav- 
ing Paris. 

Paris, May 26. — At Paris again ; and I am inclined 
to think that I return to this city better qualified to 
study it, and in some sort to comprehend it in all its 
relations and bearings than when I was here in the 
month of March on my way to Italy. That the in- 
fluence of Paris is felt all over Europe there can be no 
doubt ; and if this influence were for the moral and 
religious improvement of the continent it would be a 
most pleasing reflection. If Paris had a sanctified 
press, and through the unnumbered channels by which 
she is difi'using a moral poison, she were sending out 
the streams of a pure and purifying literature, and dis- 
seminating a healthful tone of morality, it would, in- 
deed, be a subject of the most devout gratitude. But 
the reverse of this is true. Her press is most licentious, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 357 

and the natural instincts of poor, fallen humanity is 
the only recognised standard of morals among the 
masses of the people. Hence the influence of Paris is 
almost omnipotent for evil. She is the acknowledged 
mistress of fashion ; and Paris styles ; Paris hats, 
gloves, and bonnets ; Paris boots, slippers, and stock- 
ings ; Paris attitudes, bows, and manners ; Paris cafes, 
restaurants, and shops ; in a word, everything a la 
Paris is the ton in all parts of Europe. Brussels, for 
example, which is one of the most brilliant, and beau- 
tiful cities met with on the continent, imitates Paris in 
everything ; so much so, that it is called little Paris. 
Milan, though lying beyond the Alps, feels and acknow- 
ledges the influence of this city ; and even Geneva — 
quiet, almost puritanical Geneva — is beginning to ape 
this the headquarters of frivolity, amusement, licen- 
tiousness, and infidelity. Would to God I could say that 
the Atlantic ocean had formed a boundary beyond which 
the poisonous and corrupting influence had not found its 
way ! But it is too obvious that our own country has 
caught the infection, and it is to be feared that the ran- 
corous virus will spread like a contagious disease, until 
the country-places as well as the cities will fester and rot 
under the ravages of the malignant disorder. Nothing 
but well-intrenched Bible morality will form a success- 
ful barrier to the progress of the contagion. Thou- 
sands of Americans are now visiting Paris, and too 
many of them carry back the infection to their own 
homes, and to the circles of their influence, in our own 
happy land. 

I feel sad, and my heart grows sick and faint, when I 
seriously contemplate the aspect of things religiously 
in this city. What hope is there for a place like this, 
where the Sabbath is nniversallv desecrated : where the 



858 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

people live in cafes and play-houses ; where nearly one 
half the births are out of the bonds of wedlock ; where 
pictorial representations of all conceivable uncleanness 
and licentiousness meet the eye at every step, in the 
shop-windows and public squares ; where the females 
are so lost to all sense of shame, modesty, and chastity, 
as to exhibit themselves in a way offensive to every 
sentiment of delicacy and decorum ; where the Bible 
is scarcely known, and where the idea of an experimen- 
tal piety is ridiculed ? What hope for the spiritual re- 
generation of such a place ? The Sabbath which is de- 
signed to turn the mind from the world, and lift the 
heart above the business and filth of the world into a 
higher region, and impress it with God and with things 
spiritual and eternal, is here wholly perverted, and is 
the great day for worldly amusements, and enjoyments. 
The theatres and opera-houses are not only open, but 
crowded to excess. The public gardens and prome- 
nades are filled with pleasure-seekers. Public amuse- 
ments are carried on in the presence of thousands of 
spectators, of all classes, in the way of racing, gam- 
bling, shooting, dancing, riding, acting plays, singing 
comic songs, and doing everything else that human in- 
genuity can devise for sport, amusement, and pleasure. 
May 27. — This morning I ran down first to Sevres, 
where I saw the finest specimens of the porcelain pro- 
duced at the celebrated government manufactory loca- 
ted in this town. These specimens kept on exhibition, 
in a sort of museum connected with the establishment, 
consist of magnificent vases, splendid paintings on por- 
celain, superb table ware, and various curious and beau- 
tiful articles, which are held at most enormous prices. 
About one hundred and sixty of the best artists, whose 
services can be commanded by the government, are kept 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 359 

constantly employed in painting vases, and copying the 
finest and most celebrated pictures of the old masters 
upon this delicate and frail material. Some pieces are 
got up in the finest taste, and upon a most princely 
scale, as presents for kings and queens, and other dis 
tinguished personages, connected with the various royal 
families of the different governments of Europe. These 
costly presents are found all over the continent, in the 
palaces of royalty, and in the private galleries, and mu- 
seums of gentlemen of wealth and distinction. 

From Sevres to Versailles, the seat of one of the 
largest, perhaps the very largest, royal palace in Eu- 
rope. It is eighteen hundred feet in length, with a 
corresponding breadth and elevation, comprising an 
endless number of apartments, and contains the most 
extensive gallery of paintings in the world. The Vati- 
can far surpasses it in statuary, but is not equal to it in 
paintings. The grounds connected with the palace are 
very extensive ; and really, as I walked for hours over 
these apparently boundless parks, adorned with an al- 
most endless number of pieces of statuary, sparkling 
with fountains, and comprising such a variety of inter- 
esting objects, I felt a little regret that I had so com- 
pletely exhausted the whole vocabulary of superlatives ^ 
in my attempts to describe other places of great beauty 
and attractiveness previously seen ; for I plainly saw 
that it would be necessary to repeat, multiply, and com- 
bine all that I could command, to compose any ade- 
quate description in language, of these transcendently 
beautiful, grand, picturesque, and elaborate palace gar- 
dens and parks. They are upon a scale so vast and 
magnificent, that it would withal, require a volume to 
describe them, with the fountains, statuary, jets, vista- 
views, lakes, and all that appertains to them. 



360 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Bordering the park on the south there are two cottage- 
like buildings called Le Grand Trianon and Le Petit 
Trianon. The former was built by Louis XIV. for Mad- 
ame de Maintenon. It has been occupied successively 
by the kings and queens of France. The Emperor Na- 
poleon the First, resided here with Josephine, and the 
apartments are pointed out by the guides which were 
occupied by the empress at the time of her divorce from 
the emperor. On the occasion of the late visit of Queen 
Victoria and Prince Albert to Paris, certain apartments 
in the Grand Trianon were fitted up in a most gorgeous 
and expensive style for their reception and accommoda- 
tion while at Versailles. There are some good paint- 
ings and several fine pieces of statuary in the difi'erent 
apartments of these buildings. The garden adjoining 
the trianon is laid out in a style similar to that adjoin- 
ing the royal palace, and is ornamented with fountains, 
and a fine cascade in Carrara marble. 

The Petit Trianon is on a smaller scale ; and is inter- 
esting, especially on account of its containing the favor- 
ite apartments of Queen Marie Antoinette. The gar- 
den of this villa — for each of the trianons forms a 
separate villa, is laid out on a large scale a rAng-Iaise, 
and has a considerable lake, on the borders of which Ma- 
rie Antoinette had erected, after her own taste, a Swiss 
village, which still presents a most picturesque appeai'- 
ance. There are several thatched cottages, an old mill, 
with bridges across the outlets to the water, and every- 
thing that the best skill and taste could combine in a 
lovely village, embosomed in trees, bordering a sweet 
little lake. The paths winding through the grounds of 
this villa, conduct one under clustering vines ; beneath 
the shadow of moss-covered rocks ; through dark and 
hidden grottoes ; upon the margin of purling streams ; 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 361 

beside little cascades that leap into the lake ; by taste- 
ful temples in the deep forest, and along the shores of 
a quiet, glassy-Surfaced sheet of water, where the white 
bosom of the swan, the snowy cottages, the stately 
trees, and the bending skies, are as distinctly reflected 
as from a mirror, presenting a most enchanting picture 
to the eye. 

The royal palace, as before observed, contains the 
largest collection of paintings in the world. A great 
many apartments of large dimensions are devoted to 
historical paintings on a very large scale. These com- 
memorate the principal battles connected with French 
history, running through many bygone centuries. Then 
there are large apartments devoted to portraits, others 
to busts and statues, and still others, in large numbers 
to views of royal residences, marine pictures, and tombs. 
One could spend a month in these galleries constantly see- 
ing something new and interesting. I spent but a part of 
one day in them, and hence I only have a recollection 
of what passed before my eyes, similar to that which 
one retains of a beautiful country, with splendid land- 
scapes, through which he has passed on a railroad car, 
at the rate of fifty miles an hour. It is my present 
purpose to devote another day to these paintings and 
statuary. 

On returning to the city, and passing the Champs da 
Mars, I witnessed a splendid review, by the emperor in 
person, of the imperial guards and other French troops, 
amounting to some forty thousand soldiers. The Zou- 
aves, as they are called, with a Turkish style of cos- 
tume and uniform, presented a very foreign and strange 
appearance among the other troops. 

May 28. — To-day I paid a visit to Saint Denis, to 
see the tombs of the French kings, in the old cathedral 

16 



362 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of that place. This town is only a few miles from the 
city, on the north, and always claims a visit from the 
traveller who stops any length of time in Paris. It has 
nothing to entitle it to this notice, apart from the 
church which shelters the old place of sepulture of the 
long line of French kings and princes down to the time 
of the breaking out of the French revolution in 1792. 
The church is at present undergoing thorough and ex- 
tensive repairs and improvements under the direction 
of the present emperor. 

The afternoon was spent in a drive to Saint Cloud, 
the seat of another royal palace of the French kings, 
and a favorite seat of the reigning emperor Napoleon 
the Third. The palace-grounds are extensive and very 
beautiful. The drive from Paris to Saint Cloud is 
through the Bois de Bologne, than which there is not 
a more delightful drive in Europe. The Bois de Bo- 
logne is a perfect scene of enchantment. Its lakes, is- 
lands, and rural scenes, intersected with walks, present- 
ing endless variety, all combine to make it a fairy-like 
picture, which must render it a favorite resort of every 
one who can steal away from the city to its quiet and 
lovely shades. I can think of nothing more charming 
than this spot must be in mid-summer. It is thronged 
every afternoon by many thousands of visiters. It lies 
but a few miles out of the western gate of Paris, and 
affords a drive, embracing the whole extent of itf5 
grounds and artificial lakes of eight or ten miles ; and 
then it is so delightful to alight from the carriage, and 
ramble among the forests, and around the lakes, or take 
a little excursion in a boat to the islands, where pleas- 
ant bowers and summer-houses invite to enjoyment and 
repose. These lakes have been formed in the last 
three or four years ; and constant improvements arc 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TEAVEL. 863 

carried on, by which the forests are designed to be 
made more and still more inviting. From some of the 
points bordering the lakes, there are most magnificent 
landscapes presented to the eye, embracing wooded 
hill-tops ; deep, dreamy valleys ; glimpses of distant 
towns and villages, with towers, spires, and domes 
rising above the green foliage of the trees, and a thou- 
sand other objects that give to the views a fascination 
from which one is reluctant to turn the eye. 

May 29. — A visit to the Palais du Luxembourg' and 
the Hotel de Cluny, The palace of Luxembourg is a 
large and well-constructed edifice, and is interesting, 
apart from its history, mainly for its gallery of paint- 
ings by living artists, some of which are really superb. 
I admire modern paintings. They have beauties and 
attractions to my uninstructed eye, that I am often in- 
capable of perceiving in old paintings, which have 
made a great noise in the world. The garden of the 
palace is on a large scale, and is ornamented with a 
great many pieces of statuary. Altogether my visit to 
the Luxembourg was interesting ; and yet, the visiter, 
who has seen a great many palaces and galleries, 
would not lose much if he were to omit it in his sight- 
seeing. 

The Hotel de Cluny is a curious establishment, and 
is one of the places where one gets more than he con- 
tracts for ; or, more than is promised in the bill. It 
is an old building, now used as a museum of rare curiosi- 
ties, which takes its name from the fact that the original 
building on the spot was commenced by the abbot of 
Cluny. It contains a vast museum of national antiqui- 
ties, such as are nowhere else to be seen in Paris. 
These consist of vases, furniture, tapestry, sacred 
utensils, crosses, remarkable specimens of stained 



364 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

glass, relievoes, mosaics, military accoutrements, with 
a most valuable collection of objects of art of the middle 
ages, together with various other articles which the 
state of morals in France have rendered necessary, that 
delicacy will not allow me to mention. This museum 
is well worth visiting. 

May 30. — The French, especially, of Paris, could 
not live without amusements. They seek but little of 
their enjoyment in the domestic circle ; indeed, it is 
but too evident that the ties which arise from the 
family relations, are very slack and loose in Paris. 
The French, it has well been said, have no word for 
home^ and they are without the home sentiments, feel- 
ing, and associations. The theatre, opera, public gar- 
dens, out-door amusements, occupy all their time that 
is not devoted to their respective avocations in life. 
Such is the demand for novelties in the way of amuse- 
ments, that the inventive geniuses of the most skilful 
are constantly taxed to contrive something new ; and 
anything that has the charm of novelty will pay well, 
for a season at least, on the Champs Elysees. Grown- 
up men and women are often seen entering, with the 
most perfect zest and glee, upon the amusements of 
children: riding hobby-horses, shooting with the 
cross-bow at little images with pipes in their mouths, 
or standing for hours to look at mimic theatres, where 
puppets are made to dance, and little foolish exhibitions 
are going on ; or sitting out at night in a damp atmo- 
sphere, without any covering, to listen to females, in the 
gay attire of the stage, sing comic songs, or waltz with 
men in a style altogether repugnant to every sentiment 
of common decency. Educated as these Parisians are, 
and accustomed as they have been, to these sources of 
enjoyment, the public amusements alluded to may bo 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 365 

regarded as a sort of safety-valve that prevents ex- 
plosion. Shut up the theatres and opera-houses, close 
the cafes and restaurants on Sunday, deprive the peo- 
ple of their amusements on the Champs Ely sees, and 
pass a law requiring the observance of the Sabbath as 
a day of rest and religious worship — and there would 
be an outbreak in Paris in twenty-four hours. Napo- 
leon the Third, with all his popularity, could not pre- 
vent it. I am not surprised that the Parisians, with 
their fondness for amusements, love Paris, and that 
they look back to it from all lands where they travel, 
with a devotion and longing, like that of the Jews in 
their exile from Jerusalem. 

Everything has been done that human ingenuity can 
devise to render public gardens and other places of 
amusement attractive and fascinating. The Chateau 
des Fleurs, for example, when lighted up at night, is 
like a fairy scene ; nothing could be more beautiful. 
It encloses an area of at least two or three acres, in 
the centre of which is an open space, in front of the 
platform for the orchestra, like a summer thrashing- 
floor for dancing. Around this there are arranged 
flower-plots and clumps of shrubbery, over-arched with 
embowering trees of beautiful foliage, in the midst of 
which are little bowers of trellis-work, and alcoves, 
with lattice blinds, and sweet gravel-walks creeping in 
every direction among these enchanted grounds ; and 
when illuminated at night, with thousands of gas-lights 
twinkling like stars among the grass, and sparkling like 
resplendent diamonds in the flower-plots, or dancing 
like brilliant fire-flies among the dark foliage of the 
trees, the scene presented is one of indescribable love- 
liness. Then the strains of delightful music that float 
out upon the breath of a calm summer-evening, and 



366 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

wander through these bewitchingly beautiful flower- 
halls, adds another element of attraction. And besides 
all these, there are pistol-galleries, billiard-saloons, card- 
tables, and a score of other places of amusement, all 
embraced in the Chateau des Fleurs. It is not wonder- 
ful, then, that a place of so much beauty, and with so 
many sources of amusement, should attract immense 
crowds of the gay, sportive, frivolous, pleasure-seeking 
men and women of Paris. The Jar din Mahille is even 
more splendid and brilliant than the Chateau des Fleurs; 
and the Jar din d^Hiver, though somewhat different, is not 
a whit behind either. These public gardens are visited 
by all classes of the community ; and the evenings are 
spent in dancing, gaming, and in those amusements 
which gratify a sensual and depraved taste and debase 
the mind. The cafes, too, many of them, have their 
attractions in the way of music, comic songs, low plays, 
and dancing. And even out-of-doors, on the Champs 
Elysees, there is an almost endless variety of exhibitions 
adapted to the demands of the vitiated taste of the 
lower classes of the motley mixture of the Parisian 
population. 

June 3. — To-day has been spent in a visit to Fon- 
tainebleau. This favorite seat of the emperor, with its 
most extensive forests, and royal hunting-grounds lies 
about forty miles from Paris, on the line of the railroad 
leading to Lyons. By an express-train one can go down 
in an hour, from nine till ten o'clock, and spend the 
day in the forests, about the palace and palace-gardens, 
and return in the evening to Paris. To an American, 
who all his life has been accustomed to deep and almost 
boundless forests, there is nothing of particular interest 
in the forests of Fontainebleau ; and it is amusing to 
him to mark the gravity with which the coachman who 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 367 

acts as guide in the drive through the woods, will drive 
round an oak-tree, three or four feet in diameter, and 
a century old, and discourse upon its grandeur and an- 
tiquity. At a point, some three miles from the town 
of Fontainebleau, upon the back skirts of the forest, 
there are some objects of historical interest worthy of 
attention. The visiter is conducted to a wild and rug- 
ged valley, walled in with rocks, and presenting a 
picture of desolate grandeur. Here there is pointed 
out the celebrated dripping rock, the cavern of the 
brigands, the hermitage of Franchard, a very deep well, 
and divers other things in the same line, hardly worth 
naming. 

The palace itself repays a visit. It has a large num- 
ber of splendidly-furnished apartments, and a fine col- 
lection of paintings. The gardens and grounds are 
perfectly enchanting, and the artificial lake that reposes 
in beauty beneath the palace-windows abounds with 
fish of enormous size that may be seen in any quantity, 
at any time, sporting in the bright clear waters. 

June 4. — This morning was devoted to a second 
visit to the Jardin des Plantes. It contains at present 
a very large number of animals, and a pleasing variety 
of plants. The grounds are beautifully diversified, and 
everything is arranged in a most attractive style. There 
are extensive museums connected with the gardens, 
containing the skeleton remains of all sorts of animals, 
birds, fishes, and serpents, and the frame work of all 
the races of the human family, together with large 
physiological museums, containing representations in 
wax of the muscular, arterial, venous, fibrous, and 
nervous departments of the human body. There are 
other rooms devoted to fossils, some of which are curi- 
ous and rare, and still others, containing extensive 



368 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

cabinets of minerals, and a thousand other things too 
tedious to enumerate. This large and interesting gar- 
den, with its animals, museums, plants, and inviting 
shades, is supported by the government at a great ex- 
pense, and everything is thrown open to the public, free 
of any expense, like all the other public institutions, 
galleries, and objects of attraction in Paris. The policy 
of the government in relation to everything of the sort, 
is exceedingly liberal ; and one interesting feature con- 
nected with this whole matter is, that while the popu- 
lace are admitted to all these public gardens, galleries, 
et cetera, there is never the slightest depredation com- 
mitted on anything. Not a flower is plucked, not a 
twig is broken, and no unguarded foot presses the green- 
sward that carpets all the spaces intervening between 
the walks, or crushes a spire of grass that fringes the 
paths winding through the charming grounds. Indeed, 
this is true of all Europe. Every one admitted to pub- 
lic places seems to conduct himself as a guardian of 
tlie public property. This is as it should be. 

The Palais de I'lndustrie in the Champs Elysees is 
occupied at this time by one of the most numerous, 
varied, and valuable collections of animals ever con- 
gregated in an agricultural exhibition. Great expec- 
tations have been excited in the public mind in reference 
to this fair or exhibition ; and it seems every way to 
have met the previously-created anticipation. The 
great crystal palace is admirably suited to this exhi- 
bition. Nothing of the sort could be finer than a view 
presented from one of the galleries of this grand and 
splendid building, as I saw it to-day. The palace con- 
sists of a hollow, glass-roofed square, which has been 
converted since the grand exhibition of the World's Fair 
last year, into a beautiful garden, with grass-plots of 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 369 

turf, tall evergreen trees, and beds of rhododendrons, 
roses, geraniums, and other brilliant-colored flowers, 
forming a horticultural and floricultural exhibition of 
great beauty and loveliness. In the midst of the ver- 
dure and flowers, there are three elegant fountains in 
full play, with statuary in bronze and marble, glancing 
out from the partial concealment of the surrounding 
shrubbery and trees, and to add a new element of at- 
tractiveness, there are two lofty aviaries, filled with 
birds of the most gorgeous and brilliant plumage, and 
their merry notes make music with the tinkling sound 
of the crystal waters that patter the rims of marble 
basins, and scatter a diamond spray upon the deli- 
cately-painted flowers-leaves that bloom around. On 
the pillars supporting the nave the flags of the various 
nations exhibiting are arranged ; each pair of pillars 
being linked together with garlands of leaves and 
flowers ; while from the roof are suspended bannerets 
of red, blue, green, and peach color, bordered with 
gold stripes, and covered with golden bees representing 
the imperial author of the exhibition. 

Under the galleries stalls are arranged for the ani- 
mals, where more than a thousand head of cattle, from 
various countries, are on exhibition. Outside the build- 
ing there is an almost endless number of sheep, pigs, 
goats, poultry, and rabbits, arranged in temporary mar- 
quees ; while still beyond are all sorts of agricultural 
implements and machinery, for agricultural purposes, 
that defies enumeration or description. 

This grand exhibition was opened with pomp, parade, 
and ceremony, on Sunday last. It will continue for 
some weeks. It of course, attracts immense crowds of 
the hard-handed yeomanry of the country to the capital ; 
and I enjoyed the costumes, manners, and general ap- 

16* 



370 ^ RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

pcarance of the exhibitors and spectators quite as much 
as I did the animals and articles on exhibition. 

June 5. — To-day has been spent in making arrange- 
ments to leave the city, and a sort of farewell round 
to some places of interest in Paris. I had not before 
visited the Pantheon, which is one of the finest pieces 
of architecture in the city or on the continent. It is 
a church, and among the tombs, in its underground 
apartments, there are two that attracted my attention 
very especially, namely, those of Voltaire and Rousseau. 

Paris has many things to please and delight one, and 
not a few to excite the most profound disgust. There 
is an immense deal of glitter, show, and outside. But 
Paris is a painted sepulchre. It appears beautiful with- 
out. Every attention is paid to politeness and eti- 
quette ; but after all, it is but a show of politeness. 
There is no hospitality ; and under all the outward ex- 
hibitions of courtesy and attention, there is a strong 
and powerful vein of selfishness that will now and then 
show itself, despite all the efforts to conceal it. Then 
Paris is corrupt, immoral, and licentious, to the core. 
The whole population is a mass of moral putrefaction. 
The grossest sins are regarded in the light of mere 
foibles, and that which would for ever blast and ruin 
character in England or America, is passed over in 
Paris as scarcely an impropriety of conduct, and is not 
allowed, in any way, to affect one's position in society. 

The French, of Paris especially, dress most taste- 
fully. The females in the shops and the clerk at his 
desk, the grisette in a public garden and the accom- 
plished lady in an evening drive or morning prome- 
nade, all display the finest ta^te in the color, styles, and 
adaptation of their apparel to their age, stature, com- 
plexion, and occupation, that can well be conceived of. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 37J 

But I must leave Paris. It is a world in itself. I have 
seen it and learned something of it, and I shall part 
from it without regret on leaving, and yet pleased that 
I have enjoyed the privilege of seeing this wonder'ful 
city for myself. 



oT2 RANDOM SKETCH JIH AHU 



CHAPTER XXY. 

RETURN TO LONDON. 

From Paris to Southampton by Rouen and HaA-re. — Day spent on the 
Isle of Wight. — Cowes. — Newport. — Carisbrooke Castle. — Ar- 
reton. — Dairyman's Daughter's Grave. — The Dairyman's Cottage. — 
Brading. — Parkhurst Prison. — From Southampton to London. — 
Sunday in London. — Dr. John Cumming. — Old City Road Wes- 
leyan Chapel. — Cemetery. — Tower of London. — London Docks. 
— Tunnel. — Visit to Greenwich. — Return to London on tlie 
Thames. 

London, June 7. — We left Paris on yesterday morn- 
ing, and ran down by rail, in two hours to Rouen, the 
old capitol of Normandy, where three or four hours were 
given to its cathedral, churches. Hotel de Yille, Palace 
of Justice, and other places usually seen by visiters to 
this city. It would be but a repetition of what has 
been said of other public buildings, of a similar char- 
acter, to attempt any description of these several 
edifices and their uses. I pass them by, and take the 
cars at four o'clock in the afternoon, and hasten on to 
Havre, where we arrive at seven o'clock, and give four 
hours, till eleven o'clock at night, to aimless rambles 
about this important seaport town. It is a thriving 
city. The tide rises and falls fifteen feet, leaving the 
vessels of all sizes and descriptions keeled over, or 
sunk in the mud at low-water. Very large, and fine new 
docks are in progress of construction, and every im- 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 373 

provement is going on that the place requires, to add 
to the convenience and safety of the growing commerce 
of the city. A passage of nine hours across the channel 
landed us in Southampton this morning at eight o'clock. 
Once more I was on English soil, and that which struck 
me as most strange, strange as it may appear, was the 
sound of the English language, spoken by cabmen, 
porters, waiters at hotels, and by the children in the 
streets. On entering a restaurant for breakfast, I found 
myself beginning, "Gargon, dejeuner pour quatre," etc. 
At as early an hour as practicable our party took one 
of the boats plying between Southampton and Cowes, 
on the isle of Wight, and in a little more than an hour 
we were driving at a rapid rate over the beautiful roads 
that traverse this delightful island. At a distance of 
five miles we passed through the town of Newport 
which is situated near the centre of the island, and a 
mile beyond reached the ruins of the castle of Caris- 
brooke, which forms one of the most attractive objects 
to be seen in the southern part of England. The early 
history of this castle reaches many centuries back, prob- 
ably to a period, " ere the rude canoe of the Cymri or 
the Roman galley touched the shores of the island, and 
when the eminences around were clothed with the en- 
tanglement of a vast primeval forest." The ruins 
crown the eminence of a rocky hill, and the decaying 
walls, almost entirely covered with ivy, and overrun 
with grass and rank weeds, above which the naked old 
towers, hoary with years, lift their venerable heads, 
present a spectacle to the eye which is very striking 
and picturesque. The view from the crumbling towers 
over the gate of entrance on the west side, is very 
beautiful. There is nothing grand ; nothing very wild 
in the landscape, but it embraces undulating fields 



374 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and meadow lands, with encircling hills and patches 
of green forest-trees and fruitful gardens, interspersed 
with country-seats and pretty villages, with church 
spires peeping above the luxuriant foliage, and glan- 
cing streams and beautifully-graded roads winding in 
every direction among the pleasant scenery of the is- 
land. 

Within the enclosure of these old castle-walls there 
is a well of great depth, which yields in abundance, 
clear cold water to refresh the thirsty visiter ; and it 
is elevated by a process that so much amuses the person 
waiting for the cooling draught, that he forgets his 
thirst until the " iron-bound bucket" is at the well's 
mouth, with its limpid treasures. The bucket is let 
down by means of a large tread-wheel, attached to a 
shaft, some eighteen inches in diameter, from around 
which the rope slowly unwinds as the bucket descends, 
until it sends back a reverberating echo from the hid- 
den depths below, announcing that it is filled and ready 
for ascent. Just then, without a word spoken, a lazy, 
sleepy-looking donkey, that has been standing in the 
corner of the well-house, in a sort of dreamy mood, 
turns about, and deliberately steps into the wheel, which 
he puts in motion, and, with a steady step, occasionally 
making an angry kick at the youth who now and then 
gives him a cut with a whip, which seems to be a part 
of the performance, he, in due time, brings the bucket 
to the top ; when he as deliberately steps out with his 
own accord, and soon takes his position in the corner, 
where he falls again into his dreamy moods, until his 
services are called into requisition by another company 
of visiters, who must see this feat of donkeyism as one 
of the principal acts in the bill. 

The drive from Carisbrooke to Arreton is very de- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 375 

ligbtful, lying over a smooth and charming road, that 
passes through an interesting portion of the island. 

Arreton is principally noted for its old parish church 
In which the Dairyman's Daughter worshipped, and for 
the burying-ground adjacent to the church in which 
her remains were interred, and where the gravestone, 
with its well-known inscription, stands among the green 
grass, marking the spot of her repose. This humble 
grave of a poor and obscure woman attracts now 
quite as many visiters as the proud monumental piles 
that distinguish the tombs of the greatest statesmen 
and military chieftains that have ever lived. Elizabeth 
Walbridge will live in the memory of the Christian 
world, while true religion has an altar, and sincere 
piety a votive offering. 

As I sat upon her tomb, and read the inscription on 
bor gravestone, I thought how little this poor pious 
girl ever dreamed, while she was pursuing her round 
of daily duties, that she was making up the materials 
of a life that would attract visiters to her last resting- 
place, and to the scenes of her childhood, long years 
after her body had mouldered to dust ! But such is 
the influence of true moral excellence. It builds a 
monument more solid than granite and more durable 
than brass. The works of one's hands may disappear — 
the footprints left upon the shifting sands that lie in the 
path of one's round of daily duties may vanish — the 
liouse in which one has lived may fall into ruins — but the 
influence of the example of one's life survives the pas- 
sing away of that which is perishable, and lives on and 
on, through the successive generations of men, repro- 
ducing itself through the rolling centuries of time, and 
assuming a glorious immortality in the saintly forms of 
the redeemed in the climes of glory to live for ever. 



876 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

At the distance of a mile and a half from the village of 
Arreton, still stands the little thatched cottage in which 
the good Dairyman lived. Here we were shown an old 
Bible of the Walbridge family, containing the register 
of the births and deaths of several members of the fami- 
ly. I copied the following : " Elizabeth Walbridge, 
daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Walbridge, was born 
July 29th, 1770, was baptized August 12th, 1770, and 
died May 3d, 1801.'* 

The cottage is a sweet little spot, with a neat en- 
closure, set with shrubbery and flowers, and surrounded 
with fruit-trees. Just across the road from the cottage, 
is a small Wesleyan chapel. I suppose this scarcely 
dates back to the time of the Dairyman's Daughter ; 
and yet I am not certain that it does not. 

A few miles south of Arreton is Brading, which was 
for a number of years the seat of the Rev. Legh Rich- 
mond's ministry and pastoral labors. During his resi- 
dence here he wrote the Historical Tracts, which have 
been so widely circulated, and so generally read by 
Christians of all religious persuasions. In reading the 
affecting " Annals of the Poor," as portrayed by the 
graphic pen of this most interesting writer, one scarcely 
knows which most to admire, the earnest simple piety 
of the writer, or the godly lives of the subjects of his 
brief biographical sketches. Near the town of Brading 
is the abode of '' the young cottager," and in the 
churchyard is the gravestone with the inscription : — 

" Jane^ the young cottager, lies hurled here.'' 

But the sun is descending the western sky, and the 
sliadows of the evening are lengthening over the plains, 
and I must away from the isle of Wight ; not that I have 
exhausted its objects of attraction, for it would require 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 377 

many days to do this, but I am to sleep in London to- 
night, which is a hundred miles distant. 

Between Newport and Cowes, returning, we pass a 
comparatively new building, of large proportions, and 
numerous apartments, standing upon an eminence, with 
pleasant grounds sloping around it, which, while it is 
pleasant to the eye, is mournful in its objects and pur- 
poses. It is the Parkhurst prison or General Peniten- 
tiary for Juvenile Offenders. Youths, and even chil- 
dren from five or six years of age, up to fifteen, who 
are guilty of punishable crimes, are confined here, and 
put under a course of tuition and training in reference 
to future usefulness as members of society. At present, 
there are over seven hundred lads in this institution. 

" On their first admittance they receive a sound edu- 
cation, under a system peculiar to the prison discipline, 
every endeavor being at the same time used to instil the 
principles of religion and repentance. They are after- 
ward selected for the various trades of tailors, shoe- 
makers, carpenters, agricultural laborers," &c., &c. 

Nearer to Cowes, one has a fine view of the royal 
residence, called the Osborn House, at which the queen 
and Prince Albert, with the royal household spend 
much of their time in the summer season. It occupies 
a commanding site, and with its park and gardens 
forms a lovely place. 

A little steamboat, in the space of an hour, places us 
on the long pier at Southampton, and ere the long sum- 
mer twilight, which lingers upon the horizon, and dif- 
fuses a mellow tint upon the whole northern sky till ten 
o'clock in the evening, has faded away, we are at the 
great Waterloo station, on the banks of the Thames, 
and in a few moments more are at a comfortable hotel 
in the West End of London. 



378 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

June 9. — Yesterday morning (Sunday) I attended 
divine service at the Scotch chapel, fronting the Drury 
Lane theatre, where I heard a most excellent sermon 
from the Rev. John Gumming, D. D., who is just now the 
most attractive pulpit orator in the great metropolis. 
His church was crowded to suffocation. Very many 
persons remained standing during the whole of the 
services. 

Dr. Gumming is not a large man, but is exceedingly 
prepossessing in his personal appearance. He has an 
intellectual expression, which illuminates his face. He 
■wears spectacles which conceal his eyes. His manner 
is easy and graceful ; his style captivating. 

He is producing more books at this fime, than any 
man living. Alexander Dumas, under an urgent press 
for a handful Napoleons to keep him out of the hands 
of his clamorous creditors, never got out a volume 
with more despatch than has Dr. Gumming in some 
instances. I stop not to pass any comments on the 
writings of this popular divine, or indulge in any 
strictures on some of his peculiar views as set forth in 
his volumes on the interpretation, and application of 
prophecy. He wields the pen of a ready writer. His 
style is certainly fresh and fascinating ; and while per- 
sons may differ with him in many of the views which he 
sets forth, they will nevertheless be interested in his 
manner of presenting them. He is diffuse as a writer ; 
in fact, his books are made up of his extempore pulpit 
lectures, sermons, and prelections, taken down at the 
time of delivery by an expert stenographer — ^for he is a 
very rapid and fluent speaker, and afterward revised by 
his own hand and sent to the press. 

Dr. Gumming is a bold, fearless, and independent 
minister of the gospel. He denounces fashionable sins 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 379 

in no measured terms, and inveighs outright against 
the popular vices of the times. 

In the evening 1 worshipped at the Old City Road, 
Wesleyan chapel, where Mr. Wesley preached in his 
day ; and at the close of the service rambled through 
the burying-ground in the rear of the church, and 
paused at the tombs of John Wesley, Dr. Adam Clarke, 
Richard Watson, Joseph Benson, and other worthies, 
whose names are associated with the history of Meth- 
odism. These were great and good men, and being 
dead, they yet speak. 

To-day has been spent in a visit to the Tower of 
London, with its almost endless variety of attractive 
objects ; to the London docks and vaults, which it 
would require a volume to describe ; to the Thames 
tunnel, and down the Thames to Greenwich, where I 
visited the observatory, and returned again by steam- 
boat, to the suspension-bridge, not far from Charing- 
Cross ; and then, fatigued with the labors of a long 
summer-day, sought my room, to make a hasty and im- 
perfect record of what I had seen. 

The Tower of London, as it is called, is, first of all, 
a great museum, containing an almost innumerable col- 
lection of firearms, cutlasses, spears, swords, cuirasses, 
bows and arrows, and all the weapons of warfare used 
for many centuries past in England, together with 
complete sets of armor, and a thousand other things, the 
naming of which would form a dry and tiresome cata- 
logue to a mere reader. The visiter is also shown the 
apartments occupied by Sir Walter Raleigh, during his 
long confinement as a prisoner in the Tower, and in 
which he wrote several of his most interesting works. 
The room into which he was admitted by day was vis- 
ited and cheered by sunlight ; the dungeon in which he 



380 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

slept by night was surrounded by rock walls of great 
thickness, and was unvisited by a solitary glimmer of 
light. In another part of this extensive building are 
the apartments in which various other distinguished 
personages were confined, for weary months and years, 
among whom were Robert Dudley and Lady Jane 
Grey. The spot where the last-mentioned was be- 
headed is pointed out, in the open court of the tower, 
though it is questionable whether this is indeed the iden- 
tical spot. A large number of touching lines and sen- 
tences traced upon the walls of the dungeons by dif- 
ferent prisoners, with their initials or names in full, 
has been collected and inserted in the face of the walls 
of one apartment, where all may be seen together. 

I copy the following as mere specimens : — 

" The more suffering for Christ in this world — the 
more glory with Christ in the next. Thou hast crown- 
ed him with honor and glory, Lord ! In memory 
everlasting he will be just. — A. Rtjndell, June 22nd, 
1587." 

" Since fortune hath chosen that my hope should go 
to the wind to complain, I wish the time were destroy- 
ed ; my planet being ever sad and unpropitious. — 
William Tyrel, 1541." 

" By the painful passage let us pass to the pleasant 
port. — Thomas Roofer." 

'' Thomas Bawdeuin,1585, Jvly. — As vertve maketli 
life ; so sin cawseth death." 

" In God is my hope. — Page." 

There are not less than ninety of these inscriptions 
on the walls, many of which are accompanied with 
striking devices. The above are copied as mere 
samples. 

In one apartment of the Tower the royal jewels are 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 381 

kept, and visiters are allowed to see these, under the 
guidance of a female keeper, who explains the objects 
and uses of the various pieces, and gives a short his- 
tory of each^ These are all preserved under a large 
glass case, surrounded by a strong iron railing ; and 
here are seen the gem-bespangled crown of Queen 
Victoria, which is worth hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, and the crown of the prince of Wales, to- 
gether with the magnificent gold candelabra and mas- 
sive gold vases, used on great state occasions ; and 
among other things of great value there is shown the 
world -renowned Koh-i-noor, the largest diamond 
known in existence. It forms the central stone in a 
heavy bracelet. It is estimated at millions of dollars ; 
but really it looks but little different from a fine piece 
of cut crystal. Of course it is a diamond, and is the rep- 
resentative of millions, but a piece of cut-glass would 
look very nearly as well. 

The London docks with their vaults occupy a very 
large space, extending for miles on the left bank of the 
Thames. These docks and vaults have been so fre- 
quently described that it would be a useless consump- 
tion of the reader's time to enter into any minuteness 
of detail in these random sketches. In order to gain ad- 
mittance to the immense under-ground vaults, which are 
the depositories of spices, indigo, teas, wines, and every- 
thing else in the whole line of commercial traffic, one 
must first procure a letter from a well-known merchant or 
banker in the city, addressed to the superintendent of 
the docks and vaults, who, on the presentation of such 
letter will issue a ticket of admittance, and this will 
secure the services of a conductor who will point out 
everything which is worth seeing. 

From the docks it is but a short walk to the cele* 



382 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

brated Thames tunnel, which is twelve hundred feet 
long, extending from side to side of the river, at a 
sufficient depth below the water to insure safety and 
avoid inconvenience. The tunnel, on entering it, pre- 
sents a most brilliant and beautiful spectacle. It is 
lighted with gas from one end to the other, and the 
recesses between the two passages are filled with shops, 
for the sale of toys and fancy articles — with cafes 
and refectories and places of amusement, the whole 
exhibiting a scene of gayety, animation, and beauty, 
that resembles some enchanted grotto. I was particu- 
larly struck with an organ whicli occupied one of the 
recesses, and which was played by steam. A neat 
little engine put in motion by alcohol, kept it in con- 
stant operation, and the music, reverberating along the 
far-reaching arches of the tunnel, was most romantic 
and delightful. 

From a pier near the entrance of the tunnel, we took 
one of the small steamboats that are ever plying up 
and down the Thames — from the suspension-bridge, 
not far below the new parliament buildings, down the 
river as far as Greenwich and beyond — and made an 
excursion to Greenwich, which stands on the right 
bank of the river, some three or four miles below th5 
tunnel. 

This town is distinguished especially as being the 
seat of the royal astronomical observatory, which 
occupies the summit of a hill, from which a fine view 
of the Thames, of London, and all the surrounding 
country, is obtained. The observatory is surrounded 
by a large and delightful park, which is set with 
old, wide-spreading trees, beneath which are pleasant 
gravel-walks and conveniently-arranged seats, while a 
carpet-like sod covers all the ground. On the ci own of 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 383 

the hill suiTOunding the observatory, we found scores of 
persons with spy-glasses, microscopes, prisms, tele- 
scopes, and other optical instrmnents, each one offering 
you a Jook for a penny. 

The return up the river was delightful. The sun 
was going down, and the cooling breezes of the expir- 
ing day were bracing and refreshing. The bosom of 
the river was covered with vessels of every size, with 
outspread canvass, following the wake of tow-boats 
driven forward by steam ; while the long, narrow, ar- 
rowy steamers, bearing hundreds and thousands of 
passengers, were shooting by each other in rapid suc- 
cession, presenting a most lively and cheerful picture. 
The forest of masts, crowding the docks on the right, 
and the shipyards, where many thousands of laborers 
were engaged in constructing vessels, on the left — the 
bridges that span the river at every few hundred 
yards in front, and the majestic ships at anchor along 
the way, with the numberless smaller craft in motion 
on the water — all combined to form a spectacle of many 
elements of interest and gratification. The tide was 
at its height. Our boat sped along like a bird, skim- 
ming the waters. Passing under the bridges, the 
top of the smoke-stack was gracefully lowered, by 
some slight manipulations, apparently making an act 
of obeisance to the long, sweeping arches above, 
and then resuming its upright position, which it main- 
tained until the boat shot beneath the span of another 
arch. Presently the long curves of the suspension- 
bridge met the eye, with the turrets and towers of 
the new parliament buildings rising against the golden 
horizon beyond, and in a few moments our little 
boat, after describing a circle, by which its head was 
again turned down the river came along side a floating 



384 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

pier, in the middle of the stream, from which we 
ascended, by a winding stairway, to the bridge above, 
and soon were threading the streets, across the Strand, 
by Charing-cross, toward Leicester square, where, at 
the Sabloniere, we found repose from the day of weari- 
some sight-seeing, and where I now conclude an imper- 
fect outline of what I have seen during the day. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 385 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

LONDON AND ITS VICINITY. 

Zoological Gardens. — Eoyal Exchange, — Dr. Melville's Tuesday Lec- 
ture. — Sydenham. — Grounds and Palace. — British Museum.— 
Richmond. — Wesleyan Theological School. — Methodism in Great 
Britain. — Queen Victoria and the Royal Family. — Ascot Races. — 
An Evening at Mr. Haldane's. — Dr. Merle d'Aubigno. — Visit to 
Windsor Castle, Parks, and Lakes. — Cranbrook Tower. 

June 10. — The objects worthy of the attention of a 
visiter, in and around London, are numerous. It re- 
quires several weeks to see everything that justly claims 
attention, to any advantage. This morning was devo- 
ted to the Zoological Gardens, which are very exten- 
sive, and contain a very large variety of plants, and the 
largest collection of living animals in the world. There 
is scarcely anything that lives or moves on the land, in 
the waters, or in the air, that may not be seen here. 
Animals of every clime, from the majestic elephant, to 
the most insignificant reptile ; birds of every feather, 
from the gigantic ostrich that can carry a man on its 
back and run like a racehorse, down to the little hum- 
ming-bird of golden plumage ; fish of every fin, and 
monsters of the deep, with the most horrid serpents, and, 
in a word, " everything that hath life." They amply 
repay a visit. The Regent Park, which adjoins the 
Zoological Gardens, is extensive, and forms one of those 
most delightful spots, shaded with trees and carpeted 
with grass, which has ^:ery appropriately been called 

17 



886 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the lungs of London. These parks, including Plyde 
Park, the Kensington Gardens, St. James's Park, &c., 
are all open to the public ; and in the afternoon, as the 
evening draws on, are covered with nurses and chil- 
dren and thousands of persons walking for recreation ; 
and in several of them there are large flocks of sheep, 
browsing upon the green grass, and reposing in the 
shade of the glossy-foliaged trees that are scattered 
over the grounds. These parks embrace a large space 
in the heart of London, and one may walk more than 
two miles on the grass, across Hyde Park and the Ken- 
sington gardens, taking them in their greatest extent. 

A stretch of five miles through the crowded parts of 
London, set us down at the Royal Exchange, which is 
regarded as the central part of the great metropolis. 
From this as a radiating point, the outer limits of what 
is called London, can not be reached in any direction, 
under four miles, and, in some directions not under 
seven miles. This is the centre of the banking establish- 
ments. They are numerous, and on every hand, and at 
every turn, the jingle of sovereigns and the clatter of 
iron-safe doors, is heard. But it is Tuesday, and at 
eleven o'clock in the morning, if you will step into the 
church just in the rear of the Bank of England, you 
may hear the celebrated Dr. Melville deliver a fine 
lecture to a crowded house of attentive listeners. Men 
have closed their ledgers and safes, and turned away 
from their desks and counting-houses, and here, in this 
house of worship, with the roar and din of commerce in 
their ears, are devoutly attending the worship of Al- 
mighty God. Here we have a practical comment on 
the text — " Diligent in business, serving the Lord." 

A walk of twenty minutes puts us across London 
Bridge — everybody has heard of London Bridge — 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 38T 

and brings us by a short turn down the river, to the rail- 
road station, where we take the cars, and, in twelve or 
fourteen minutes' time, we are at Sydenham, eight miles 
distant, which is now the seat of the great crystal palace. 

Nothing could be more beautiful and elegant than 
this splendid establishment, with its encircling gardens, 
fountains, ornamental arcades, and lovely walks. 

After the close of the "World's Fair held in this most 
splendid crystal palace it was removed from Hyde 
Park in London to Sydenham, where it has been re-erect- 
ed on a very beautiful and commanding site, with ad- 
ditions, alterations, and improvements, and set off with 
all the adornments that nature and art can supply, to 
render it attractive and inviting. The building itself is 
byfarthe most splendid establishment of the sort in exist- 
ence. It is far superior, both as to extent and architec- 
ture, to the crystal palace of New York or that of Paris 
or Munich. Indeed, no one who has not seen it can form 
any adequate conception of its grandeur and magnifi- 
cence. The entire length of this superb edifice was 
originally eighteen hundred and forty-eight feet and its 
width four hundred and eight, covering an area of eigh- 
teen acres of ground. The semi-circular ribs of the 
transept are seventy feet in span, with an elevation of 
one hundred and eighty feet. This sublime crystal 
vaulting presents a spectacle of rare beauty, elegance, 
and majesty. Nearly one million of superficial feet are 
included in the whole extent of glass. 

The removal of this great palace to Sydenham was a 
prodigious work ; and the entire structure, as it now 
stands out in bold and prominent relief, with the addi- 
tion of its extensive wings, flanking towers of great 
height, and semi-circular roof of the nave as well as of 
the transept, looks like some magic creation ; so light 



388 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and airy ; so beautiful and symmetrical in its propor- 
tions ; so simple, and yet so sublime 1 

In its re-erection for its present purposes, in its new 
position, " the projectors found it necessary to make 
such modifications and improvements as were suggested 
by the difference between a temporary receiving-house 
for the world's industrial wealth, and a permanent 
palace of art and education, intended for the use of 
mankind long after its original founders should have 
passed away. Not only, however, have increased 
strength and durability been considered, but beauty and 
artistic effect have come in for a due share of attention. 
The difference of general aspect, between the present 
palace and its predecessor, is visible at a glance. In 
the parent edifice, the external appearance, although 
grand, was monotonous ; the long flat roof was broken 
by only one transept, and the want of an elevation pro- 
portionate to the great length of the building was cer- 
tainly displeasing. In the Sydenham palace, an arched 
roof covers the nave — raising it forty-four feet higher 
than the nave in Hyde Park — and three transepts are 
introduced into the structure instead of one, the centre 
transept towering into the air, and forming a hall to 
the palace of surpassing brilliancy and lightness. A 
further improvement is the formation of recesses, twenty- 
four feet deep, in the garden fronts of all the transepts. 
These throw fine shadows, and take away from the con- 
tinuous surface of plain glass walls : while the whole 
general arrangement of the exterior — the roofs of the 
side-aisles rising stop-like to the circular roof of the 
nave, the interposition of low square towers at the junc- 
tion of the nave and transepts, the open galleries to- 
ward the garden front, the long wings stretching forth 
on either side, produce a play of light and shade and 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 389 

break the building into parts, which, without in any 
way detracting from the grandeur and simplicity of the 
whole construction, or causing the parts themselves to 
appear mean or small, present a variety of surface that 
charms and fully satisfies the eye. 

" Unity in architecture is one of the most requisite and 
agreeable of its qualities ; and certainly no building 
possesses it in a greater degree than the crystal palace. 
Its design is most simple : one portion corresponds with 
another ; there is no introduction of needless ornament : 
a simplicity of treatment reigns throughout. Nor is 
this unity confined to the building. It characterizes the 
contents of the glass structure, and prevails in the 
grounds. All the component parts of the exhibition 
blend, yet all are distinct : and the efiect of the admi- 
rable and harmonious arrangement is, that all confusion 
in the vast establishment, within and without, is avoid- 
ed. ^ The mighty maze' has not only its plan, but a 
plan of the most lucid and instructive kind, and the 
visiter is enabled to examine every court, whether ar- 
tistic or industrial ; every object, whether of nature or 
of art, in regular order ; so that, as in a well-arranged 
book, he may proceed from subject to subject at his 
discretion, and derive useful information without the 
trouble and vexation of working his way through a 
labyrinth. 

" All the materials employed in the exhibition of 1851, 
with the exception of the glass on the whole roof, and 
the framing of the transept-roof, have been used in the 
construction of the crystal palace. The general prin- 
ciple of construction, therefore, is identical in the two 
buildings. The modifications that have taken place, 
and the reasons that have led to them, have already 
been stated. Two difficulties, however, which were un- 



390 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

known in Hyde Park, had to be provided against at 
Sydenham, viz., the loose nature of the soil, and the 
sloping character of the ground. Means were taken to 
overcome these difficulties at the very outset of the 
work. The disadvantage of soil was repaired by the 
introduction of masses of concrete and brickwork under 
each column, in order to secure breadth of base and 
stability of structure. The slanting ground was seized 
by Sir Joseph Paxton with his usual sagacity, in order 
to be converted from an obstacle into a positive advan- 
tage. The ground ran rapidly down toward the gar- 
den, and Sir Joseph accordingly constructed a lower 
or basement story toward the garden front, by means 
of which not only increased space was gained, but a 
higher elevation secured to the whole building, and the 
noblest possible view. The lower story is sufficiently 
large to serve as a department for the exhibition of ma- 
chinery in motion, and a very interesting exhibition of 
agricultural implements, which important branches of 
science and human industry will thus be contemplated 
apart from other objects. Behind this space, toward 
the interior of the building, is a capacious horizontal 
brick shaft, twenty-four feet wide, extending the whole 
length of the building, and denominated ' Sir Joseph 
Paxton's Tunnel.' Leading out of this tunnel are the 
furnaces and boilers connected with the heating appara- 
tus, together with brick recesses for the stowage of 
coke. The tunnel itself is connected with the railway, 
and is used as a roadway for bringing into, and taking 
from, the palace all objects of art and of industry ; an 
arrangement that leaves the main floor of the building 
independent of all such operations. Behind the tun- 
nel, and toward the west, the declivity of the ground is 
met by means of brick piers of the heights necessary to 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 391 

raise the foundation pieces of the columns to the level 
at which they rest on the summit of the hill. 

" The building consists, above the basement floor, of a 
grand central nave, two side aisles, two main galleries, 
three transepts, and two wings. It will be remember- 
ed, that in Hyde Park an imposing effect was secured 
by the mere repetition of a column and a girder which, 
although striking and simple, was certainly monoto- 
nous ; and, moreover, in consequence of the great length 
of the building, the columns and girders succeeded one 
another so rapidly that the eye had no means of measur- 
ing the actual length. At Sydenham pairs of columns 
and girders are advanced eight feet into the nave at 
every seventy-two feet, thus breaking the uniform 
straight line, and enabling the eye to measure and ap- 
preciate the distance. 

" The building above the level of the floor is entirely 
of iron and glass, with the exception of a portion at the 
west front, which is panelled with wood. The whole 
length of the main building is sixteen hundred and 
eight feet, and the wings five hundred and seventy-four 
feet each, making a length of twenty-seven hundred and 
fifty-six feet, which with the seven hundred and twenty 
feet in the colonnade, leading from the railway station 
to the wings, gives a total length of thirty-four hundred 
and seventy-six feet ; or nearly three quarters of a 
mile of ground covered with a transparent roof of glass. 

" Visiters are fond of reverting to the old building in 
Hyde Park, and of comparing it with the present struc- 
ture ; in order to help the comparison, we furnish, side 
by side, the exact measurements of the two buildings ; 
from which it will be seen that either building exceeds 
the other, in some of its proportions. 



392 



RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



1,608 

. 384 

312 

603,072 



CRYSTAL PALACE AT SYDENHAM. 

ft. in. 

Length 

Greatest width 

General width . 

Area, including wings 

Height of nave from 
ground-floor 

Height of centre transept 

from ground-floor . 174 

Height of centre tran- 
sept from basement . 197 

Area of galleries . 261,568 



110 3 



EXHIBITION BUILDING IN HVDE PARK. 



Length 

Greatest width 

General width . 

Area 

Height of nave from 

ground-floor . 
Height of transept from 

ground-floor 



ft. 

1,848 

456 

408 

'98,912 



64 9 



102 2 



Area of galleries 



233,856 



'• Though not exactly in the direction of the cardinal 
points, the two ends of the building are generally called 
north and south, and the two fronts east and west. 
The roof, from end to end, is on the Paxton ridge-and- 
furrow system, and the glass employed in the roof is one 
thirteenth of an inch in thickness (twenty-one ounces per 
foot). The discharge of the rain-water is effected by 
gutters, whence the water is conveyed down the inside 
of the columns, at the base of which are the necessary 
outlets leading to the main-drains of the building. The 
first gallery is gained from the ground-floor by means 
of flights of stairs about twenty-three feet high ; eight 
such flights being distributed over the building. This 
gallery is twenty-four feet wide, and devoted to the cx- 
liibition of articles of industry. The upper gallery is 
eight feet wide, extending like the other, round the 
building ; it is gained from the lower gallery, by spiral 
staircases, of which there are eight. The greater num- 
ber of these staircases are divided into two flights, each 
flight being twenty feet high ; but in the centre transept 
the two staircases contain four flights of the same alti- 
tude. Round this upper gallery, at the very summit of 
the nave and transepts, as well as round the ground 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 393 

floor of the building, are placed louvres, or ventilators, 
made of galvanized iron. By the opening or closing 
of these louvres — a service readily performed — the 
temperature of the crystal palace is so regulated that 
ou the hottest day of summer, the dry parching heat 
mounts to the roof to be dismissed, while a pure and 
invigorating supply is introduced at the floor in its 
place, giving new life to the thirsty plant and fresh 
vigor to man. The coolness thus obtained within the 
palace will be sought in vain on such a summer's day 
outside the edifice. 

" The total length of columns employed in the con- 
struction of the main buildings and wings would extend, 
if laid in a straight line, to a distance of sixteen miles 
and a quarter. The total weight of iron used in the 
main building and wings amounts to ninety-six hundred 
and forty-one tons, seventeen cwts., one quarter. The 
superficial quantity of glass used is twenty-five acres ; 
and weighs five hundred tons ; if the panes were laid 
side by side, they would extend to a distance of forty- 
eight miles ; if end to end, to the almost incredible 
length of two hundred and forty-two miles. To com- 
plete our statistics, we have further to add that the 
quantity of bolts and rivets distributed over the main 
structure and wings weighs one hundred and seventy- 
five tons, one cwt., one quarter ; that the nails ham- 
mered into the palace increase its weight by one hun- 
dred and three tons, six cwt., and that the amount of 
bricii-work in the main building and wings is fifteen 
thousand three hundred and ninety-one cubic yards. 

" From the end of the south wing to the crystal palace 
railway-station, as above indicated, is a colonnade seven 
hundred and twenty feet long, seventeen feet wide, and 
eighteen feet high. It possesses a superficial area of 

17* 



394 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

fifteen thousand five hundred feet, and the quantity of 
iron employed in this covered passage is sixty tons ; of 
glass thirty thousand superficial feet." 

An immense amount of labor and expense has been 
bestowed upon the grounds surrounding the palace. 
Huge monsters, such as are found only in fossils, have 
been sculptured from large masses of rock, and lie 
scattered along the margin of artificial lakes and 
streams ; with here and there a prodigious bear, or 
some other uncouth animal of unnatural proportions, 
occupying the more elevated points of ground. These 
are on the outskirts of the park, while the inner ranges 
are decorated with fountains, encircled in rockbuilt ba- 
sins, from the midst of which, on suitable occasions, 
hundreds of jets, of various sizes and of different 
elevation, are made to play their sparkling waters in 
the air. These jets were put in operation for a short 
time this afternoon, and the spectacle was most lovely. 
The sun was shining in cloudless splendor, and as the 
winds scattered the spray like the rain-drops of an 
April shower in the sunshine, and sprinkled the gor- 
geous flowers and blooming shrubs that fringed the 
basins, the aerial tints of the rainbow played upon 
tlie misty veil that half concealed the view, and be- 
spangled the pearly drops with prismatic hues of ex- 
treme delicacy and loveliness. Next week some ad- 
ditional jets, of greater volume and elevation, supplied 
with water from reservoirs in the lofty towers flanking 
the palace, are to be opened with imposing ceremonies 
in the presence of her majesty Queen Victoria. These 
reservoirs in the towers are filled by forcing pumps 
put in motion by machinery in the lower part of the 
building ; the jets supplied by them will only be put in 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 395 

play on special occasions, for tlie entertainment of dis- 
tinguished visiters, or on great state occasions. 

June 11. — The British Museum occupied the whole 
of the forenoon of this day, which only allowed time 
for a comparatively hurried survey of the different 
apartments of this most extensive establishment, by far 
the most universal and complete of its sort in the 
world. Any one of the rooms, of which there are a 
large number, would require many days to study its 
collections to advantage ; and a mere catalogue of the 
various objects would afford but little gratification or 
interest to a reader. The Egyptian antiquities — the 
Nineveh marbles, collected by the indefatigable labors 
of Layard, the Elgin marbles, obtained by the Earl 
of Elgin from Greece, furnishing the finest models of 
Grecian art, the Phigalian marbles, found in the tem- 
ple of Apollo Epicurus, built on Mount Cotylion at a 
little distance from the ancient city of Phigalia in Ar- 
cadia, and the Townley collection, embracing all pe- 
riods of art, except the most ancient — in themselves 
supply studies for whole weeks and months. Then the 
galleries devoted to zoology, mineralogy, and geology, 
to say nothing of thousands of other things not in- 
cluded in the collections above mentioned, are ab- 
solutely inexhaustible. But nothing interested me more, 
among the antiquities brought to light in modern times, 
than the Rosetta stone, which occupies a conspicuous 
place in the saloon of Egyptian antiquities. 

The library of printed books contained in one of the 
apartments of the British Museum, consists of more 
than four hundred and sixty thousand volumes. The 
earliest printed Bible, in fact the earliest printed book 
known, called the Mazarine Bible, is in this library. It 
is supposed to have been issued from the press of Gut- 



396 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

tenberg and Faust, at Mayence, about the year 1455. 
It also contains the first book printed with a date, and 
the first example of printing in colors ; also the first 
edition of the first Greek classic printed ; the first 
edition of Homer, printed at Florence in 1488 ; and of 
Virgil, printed at Venice in 1501. But enough of dry 
details. 

This afternoon, one of the most lovely that England 
ever saw, we made a delightful excursion to Richmond, 
about ten miles above London on the Thames. This 
is a pretty town of about one hundred thousand in- 
liabitants, and is noted for the beauty of the surround- 
ing scenery. The view from the Richmond hill is re- 
garded as the very finest anywhere to be obtained in 
the neighborhood of London. The '' Star and Garter 
Hotel," occupies a commanding site, and the views 
from its windows have been rendered classic by Pope, 
and Thomson, and Horace Walpole. The Richmond 
Park is regarded as one of the most handsome of the 
royal domains, and is a place of great resort for the 
Londoners. It is eight miles in circuit, and contains 
two thousand two hundred and fifty-three acres. 

A Wesleyan Methodist theological seminary is lo- 
cated at this place, and stands upon a beautiful site 
near the Royal Park. The campus and grounds sur- 
rounding the college are exceedingly beautiful, and the 
view from the roof of the college buildings unsurpassed 
by that obtained from any other part of Richmond hill. 
The institution seems to be answering the designs of its 
founders ; and though regarded by some, at the time 
of its establishment, as an innovation on Methodist usage, 
the opposition has passed away, and it now receives 
the countenance and favor of the entire body, clergy 
and laity, of the Wesleyan connection in England. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 397 

There is another institution of the same grade and 
character located at Didsby, near Manchester ; which 
is also well-sustained, and, like the Richmond college, 
meets the wishes and aims of its founders. 

From the Rev. Thomas Jackson, the venerable pres- 
ident of the Richmond college, I learned that Method- 
ism in Great Britain, is at this time, in a more flourish- 
ing and prosperous condition than it has been for 
several years past. 

The Wesleyan Methodists in Great Britain, occupy a 
position which is different from that occupied by the 
great body of Dissenters in England. They have their 
own chapels, and are Dissenters in fact, but they do 
not array themselves against the establishment. They 
use the morning service of the Church of England, in 
all the principal chapels in the larger towns and cities, 
and conform, to a very considerable extent, to the 
modes of worship of that church. 

From the Rev. William Arthur, author of the " Suc- 
cessful Merchant," who is at present the secretary of the 
Wesleyan Missionary Society, I learned that the Wes- 
leyan body were never doing better in their missionary 
operations. The sum of one hundred and nineteen 
thousand pounds sterling was raised last year, by the 
Wesleyans, for missionary purposes, and that, too, with- 
out any large bequests, or unusually large donations 
by individuals. 

The "pew system" prevails almost universally in the 
Methodist houses of worship, and organs are in use in 
all the larger chapels. 

The evening was closing in when we left Richmond 
on the hill ; and amid all the gorgeous glories and 
beauties of a rich summer sunset, in a land of gardens 
and lovely landscapes, we entered the great metrop- 



398 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

olis and sought repose from another day of exhausting 
sight-seeing. 

June 14. — The last two or three days have been 
spent in random strolls about the city, and in occasional 
visits to points of interest in the vicinity. I have seen 
the queen and all the royal household, and many of 
the titled aristocracy of the land. But after all, they 
are but poor, frail human beings, who, stripped of their 
titles and thrown out among the masses of the people, 
would attract no attention whatever, either by the 
superiority of their talents or the elegance and beauty 
of their persons. Prince Albert is a fine-looking man, 
of easy and graceful manners. Queen Victoria is rather 
a plain-looking woman, not by any means handsome 
in person, and not overdone with native dignity. She 
is, no doT^bt, a sensible woman ; and while she does 
nothing great, she does no harm. She is a fine dis- 
ciplinarian in her own family, so it is said ; and in this 
regard sets an example for the mothers of the kingdom, 
every way worthy of imitation. 

Some of my readers will be a little surprised, when 
I inform them that I went to the Ascot races to see 
the queen and her royal guests, now at Windsor 
castle. No previous opportunity occurring in which I 
could see her majesty, without going to the theatre ; 
and learning from the papers that she would ride round 
the course, with a splendid cortege, made up of dis- 
tinguished dignitaries of the realm and of royal 
visiters from abroad, before the races commenced, I 
thought I might venture to run out and take a look, as 
no other occasion might occur, in which to gratify a 
reasonable curiosity. My visit, therefore, was to see 
the queen and not the races ; and having gratified 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 399 

my republican curiosity, and gathered up materials for 
a page in my journal, I returned to London. 

Tlie cortege was splendid and imposing. The long 
line of carriages was preceded by the queen's hunts- 
men and outriders, in gay and showy livery. There 
were eleven open carriages, five of them drawn by 
beautiful gray ponies. As the cortege approached the 
stands where the crowd was most dense, and one by 
one, her majesty, Prince Albert, the prince of Prussia, 
and the regent of Baden, with the young prince of 
Wales and the princess, were recognised, loud and 
simultaneous cheering burst forth from all sides. 

The queen seems to be mucli esteemed by her peo- 
ple, and the whole royal family has a strong hold upon 
the masses of the population. 

The Ascot-Heath raceground presented a gay, ani- 
mated, and picturesque scene on the morning of my 
visit. The whole week was devoted to this sport, and 
the grounds were covered with booths and tents, 
and the house-tops furnished with seats and accommo- 
dations for spectators. Thursday being the day on 
which the queen was to make her visit, an immense 
crowd was attracted at an early hour to the course. 
The space opposite the royal stand was crowded by 
carriages, filled with ladies, whose rich and many- 
colored dresses imparted a peculiarly gay aspect to 
the scene ; while all around there were groups of fan- 
tastically-attired musicians and bands of jugglers, and 
companies of gipsies in their peculiar costumes, sing- 
ing and dancing and ofiering various articles for sale ; 
while further back were rows of stalls and booths for 
the sale of refreshments, with gay banners floating 
above them ; and still farther back canopies spread for 
the concealment of various animals, which were on ex- 



400 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

hibition ; and still beyond, pistol galleries and spaces 
staked off for archery, and a hundred other sorts of 
sport, such as were novel to me. But gambling was 
the order of the day. Everybody was anxious to bet. 
Sportsmen had their books and pencils in hand, ready 
to take down each bet, that could be got, on certain 
horses, for certain races during the day, and when I 
left, the excitement was growing high, and the tumult 
and din of the bustling throng was rising up like the 
roar of the ocean or the murmuring sound of an on- 
coming tempest in a distant forest. 

A few days ago I had the pleasure and honor of 
spending an evening with a select company of gentle- 
men and ladies of mark, at Mr. Haldane's, author of the 
"• Two Haldanes," in Westbourn terrace. The prin- 
cipal guest was the distinguished and celebrated Dr. 
Merle d'Aubigne of Geneva, now in England for the 
purpose of gathering up material for the sixth volume, 
now in hand, of his great history of the Reformation. 
There were present on the occasion, a number of au- 
thors and editors, not unknown to fame, and several dis- 
tinguished divines, with admirals and, I scarcely know 
who besides, and a fine assemblage of the West-end 
ladies. Dr. Merle d'Aubigne entertained the company 
with a most interesting account of the state of religion 
on the continent, especially in France and Switzerland, 
and by detailing a number of touching incidents connect- 
ed with the late persecutions through which some of the 
Protestants have been called to pass in those countries, 
illustrating the fidelity, piety, and devotion of those 
humble and oppressed Christians. The Rev. Mr. Arthur 
followed this conversational address by a fervent and 
appropriate prayer, and the company, after partaking 
of a generous repast, parted for the evening. I was 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 401 

indebted to the Rev. Mr. Arthur for my introduction to 
this pleasant circle. 

To-day has been given to a visit to Windsor Castle, 
twenty-five miles from London, which is, at this time, 
the finest and most complete royal residence in Eng- 
land. The parks are the largest and finest in the world. 
Here, again, 1 regretted that I had so completely ex- 
hausted the vocabulary of superlatives on places, of a 
similar sort, previously visited. And yet these royal 
grounds are different, in some respects, from any I have 
seen. 

Windsor Castle has been the principal seat of British 
royalty for nearly eight centuries. The present castle 
was founded by William the Conqueror, but was almost 
entirely rebuilt by Edward III. Saint George's chapel, 
is a fine specimen of florid Gothic architecture. 
At the east end of the chapel is the royal vault in 
which are deposited the remains of Edward TV. and 
his queen; Henry VI., Henry YIIL, and Jane Sey- 
mour, Charles I., George HI., and his queen ; George 
lY., the princess Charlotte, William IV., and his 
queen. Tlie monument to the princess Charlotte enjoys 
the reputation of being a fine piece of sculpture. It 
was in the keep or round tower of this castle, in 
which James I. of Scotland was confined. The little 
park which extends on the north and east of the castle 
is about four miles in circumference, in which is the 
tree, supposed to be " Heme's oak," immortalized by 
Shakespeare. The great park is situated on the south 
side of the castle, and is scarcely less than twenty-five 
miles in circuit. It presents a pleasing spectacle to 
the eye, as one traverses its beautiful avenues, and cir- 
cuitous routes. The trees are numerous, and many of 
them very large, with spreading tops, scattered irregu- 



402 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

larly, and in clumps, over the undulating surface, pre- 
senting the appearance of a primeval forest, which had 
been thinned by the hand of time, leaving here and 
there the monarch oak or the wide-spreading beech- 
tree, with the smaller and more youthful sons of the 
forest intervening, all quietly lifting their gorgeous 
coronals of glossy foliage into the sunlight, and casting 
their deep, dark shadows upon the velvet-like turf that 
covers the ground. There are portions of this park 
which are more densely crowded with trees, and where 
the dark pine, resembling that of the Black Forest of 
G-ermany, and the thick and tangled undergrowth, afford 
a shelter to the game with which it abounds. In every 
direction immense herds of deer may be seen, which 
may be numbered by the hundred ; while, at every 
step, the pheasant or rabbit springs up at your feet — and 
hastens away into the thicket, or seeks to conceal it- 
self beneath the grass. In a remote portion of the park 
there is an extensive lake — tortuous in its course, and 
bordered with trees, among which are seen the golden- 
crowned laburnum and the Scotch broom with its 
bright yellow blossoms — called Virginia Water. This 
lake is three miles in length, and at some points of ob- 
servation affords as truly picturesque views as are to 
be obtained in any of the artificial grounds of Europe. 
At the eastern extremity of the Virginia Water there 
is an outlet, by a stream that steals away into the deep 
woods, and at a point where it makes a sudden turn there 
is an artificial cascade, where the foaming waters leap 
down the face of rugged rocks, with a wild and tumul- 
tuous roar, and then glide away as noiselessly through 
the sombre forest below as they approach the precipice 
above — forming altogether a sweet little picture, which 
once seen is transferred to the halls of memory, where 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 403 

it lives among the beauteous things that the traveller 
loves to cherish and recall long after the sensible im- 
age has passed from the eye. 

The cottages of the gamekeepers, and of the super- 
intendents of the grounds, are situated at those points 
where they combine most beautifully with the surround- 
ing scenery, and add to the effect of some of the finest 
views. Under the guidance of Mr. Gilliat, a merchant 
prince of London, and whose elegant country-seat is ad- 
joining the royal Windsor Park, and who withal is a 
most intelligent and accomplished gentleman, I was 
conducted to the Cranbourne Tower, which stands near 
the site of an old castle, from the top of which there 
is obtained a charming prospect of as diversified and 
beautiful a district of country as can be commanded 
from any point of observation within thirty miles of 
London. It is pleasant to meet with a gentleman, 
bordering on sixty years of age, who retains the vigor 
and freshness of youth, and enjoys, with a sort of poetic 
enthusiasm, all that is attractive and beautiful in nat- 
ural scenery ; and, who seizes, with rapture, upon all 
the points and features which give effect to a land- 
scape. Such a gentleman is Mr. J. K. Gilliat, whose 
hospitalities I have shared during my short visit to the 
country, and whose companionship I enjoyed, with that 
of his most estimable and accomplished lady, in my 
drives about the castle and royal grounds to-day. His 
seat is called " Fern Hill," a sweet and charming spot 
it is, with all that ample means, under the direction of 
a refined taste can accomplish, to render it attractive. 
Here I saw something of private life in an elegant 
English family. It recalled many things that I had 
read, descriptive of home scenes, in the good old father- 
land. I and my friend Mr. W. dined with this inter- 



404 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

esting family at half-past six o'clock this afternoon, and 
at eight o'clock, while the sunlight was still lingering 
on the turrets and towers of Windsor Castle, we hasten- 
ed through the grand old park, at the rate of ten miles 
an hour, and in a few moments were shooting along in 
the cars, toward London, with the shining waters of 
the Thames now and then glancing upon the eye, and 
church spires rising above the rounded, dome-like tops 
of the trees, and pleasant towns, and beautiful gardens, 
skirting the way, all fading away in the summer even- 
ing twilight, into a soft, dreamy picture, that furnishes 
materials for night visions, when deep sleep has come 
down upon the eyelids. Mine are heavy, for the night 
wears away, and day will soon dawn again. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 405 



CHAPTER XXYII. 

LONDON, OXFORD, AND STRATFORD ON AVON. 

Mr. Binney. — A Visit to the Bank of England. — House of Lords. — 
House of Commons. — Speck of War. — Parliament Buildings. — 
Westminster Abbey again. — Excursion to Oxford. — Its Colleges. — 
Leamington. — Wanvick Castle. — Stratford on Avon. — The House 
in which Shakespeare was Born. — The Church in which he and his 
Wife are entombed. — Return to London. 

June 16. — Yesterday morning I heard a capital ser- 
mon from the Rev. Mr. Binney, an independent Pres- 
byterian minister, whose chapel is near London Bridge. 
His place of worship was crowded. He is a profomid 
man, and differs widely from the Rev. Dr. Gumming, 
in his style, manner of delivery, and all that pertains 
to pulpit eloquence. Dr. Gumming is more fascinating 
in his person, and address, but Mr. Binney is a man of 
more intellectual force and power. He reasons close- 
ly ; but he is so earnest, so direct, and so thoroughly 
evangelical withal, that he rivets the attention, and 
makes a powerful and lasting impression upon the 
minds of his hearers. Dr. Gumming pleases and inter- 
ests for the time, but his sermons, I should think, do 
not stick by one as do the Rev. Mr. Binney's. 

This morning, I and my party were admitted to the 
Bank of England, by a ticket obtained from the Hon. 
Mr. Dallas, our resident American embassador in Great 



406 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Britain. There is great formality in admitting visiters 
to this institution. On the presentation of a ticket 
from any of the embassadors, or of a letter of intro- 
duction from any of the well-known bankers of the city, 
a ticket is issued by the duly-authorized officer of the 
bank, granting permission to visit the different parts 
of the establishment. This ticket is obtained by an 
intermediate officer, who places it in the hands of an 
intelligent guide, under whose instruction the visiter 
is shown through all the different apartments of the 
entire building; the guide taking care to obtain the 
signature of the principal officers to the ticket, as he 
passes from room to room. 

We were first shown into a large room, where one 
hundred and thirty clerks are constantly employed, 
from day to day, in counting and registering bank-notes 
that are redeemed by the bank ; a note never being 
issued but once. In this office, as they pass through 
the hands of these clerks, the right-hand corner of each 
note is torn off, and the denomination of the note 
punched out, whereupon it is registered, and then 
packed away in a box with others of the same denomi- 
nation, taken in on the same date. From thirty to forty 
thousand separate and distinct notes pass through the 
hands of these clerks daily. The boxes containing 
them are safely stored away, and remain on hand for 
the space of ten years and one month, when the notes 
are taken from the box, and burnt to ashes in a place 
provided for this consumption in a court of the bank. 
Thus, on the first Monday of every month about forty 
millions of pounds sterling, or say, two hundred millions 
of dollars are consumed. There are forty thousand boxes 
of these notes constantly on hand ; and our guide inform- 
ed us that any one particular note, contained in any one 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 407 

of these forty thousand boxes, could be found in five 
minutes' time, if any occasion arose for the identification 
of the note. Such is the system and accuracy with 
which this department of the business is conducted. 

We were shown into the apartments in which the 
bank-notes are printed. This is now done by electro- 
type ; and two or three presses are constantly employed 
turning ofi", each, about nine thousand notes per hour. 
There are, besides these, six compositors and several 
presses employed in executing the printing for the bank- 
ing purposes alone. Everything used by the bank, ex- 
cept the paper alone, is manufactured on the premises. 
The paper for the bank-notes is manufactured at Hamp- 
shire ; but the moulds in which it is made, are kept 
locked up by the bank. When a new supply of paper 
is wanted, the moulds are sent to the paper-mill ; the 
paper is made all of clean new linen, and packed up 
in boxes, under lock and key, and, with the moulds, is 
forwarded to the bank. But it would require a whole 
chapter to go into any minuteness of detail. 

We were shown into one apartment, where all the 
gold, sovereigns and half-sovereigns, that pass through 
the bank, are weighed ; and those which fall, by the 
smallest amount, below the standard weight, are thrown 
out and marked, so as to prevent further circulation, 
until they are passed through the mint and come out 
in new coin. This process of weighing is by an in- 
geniously-contrived piece of machinery, which performs 
its work with accuracy and despatch, without the eye 
or hand of any one, further than to keep a supply in the 
receiving box of the weighing machine. 

In the cashier's room we were shown the notes ready 
to go into circulation, signed, and every way the true 
representatives of money. The polite and obliging 



408 KANDOM SKETCHES AND 

cashier very courteously placed a small bundle of notes 
in my hand, which I could very easily have put in my 
coat-pocket, the value of which was one million of 
pounds sterling, or about five millions of dollars. He 
showed no inclination, however, to insist on my retain- 
ing it when I was retiring from his room. There were, 
besides the notes, several millions of pounds sterling 
in this one apartment in gold. We were also conduct- 
ed into the rooms where foreign specie is received, and 
where it is weighed and put up in bags for exportation 
to the East Indies and other parts of the British do- 
minions. We were informed that on Wednesday ot 
last week eighty-five tons of gold and silver were re- 
ceived at one time ! 

June 18. — Yesterday evening T visited the House of 
Lords, and heard a poor speech from a peer of the 
realm. The business of this department of the nation- 
al legislative body seems to be conducted with consid- 
erable formality. The lord-chanceller occupies a seat 
on the woolsack with the mace by him, while the house 
is in session ; on the adjournment the mace is taken 
up and carried out of the hall and deposited in another 
apartment. I saw nothing in the House of Lords or in 
the business transacted that is worthy of note. 

This evening I visited the House of Commons, and 
here I found a much larger number of members, and 
more animation and talent among the speakers. There 
is evidently more ability in this branch of Parliament 
than in the House of Lords. Lord John Russell, though 
now decidedly unpopular, and D' Israeli, are both men 
of talent. Last night they both made well-timed 
speeches on the American question as it is called. 
The dismissal of Mr. Crampton, her majesty's minister 
at Washington, has created a good deal of excitement 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 409 

in the country. This matter is viewed in different 
lights by different parties, and it has already elicited 
some warm speeches in parliament, and some spirited, 
and rather bad-tempered editorials in " The Times." 
Other newspapers view the subject in a different 
light, and fully justify the United States government 
in the dismissal of her majesty's minister, inasmuch as 
he had become personally offensive to the government, 
and do not think that the dismissal, under the circum- 
stances, furnishes any just ground for the suspension of 
diplomatic relations between the two governments. 
The present aspect of the question, and the modified 
tone of the leading journals, for the last few days, 
clearly indicate that nothing serious is likely to grow 
out of this matter. The " speck of war" will vanish, 
and we shall soon have a clear horizon again. - 

The new parliament buildings when entirely comple- 
ted must rank among the finest public edifices of the 
sort in the world. The extent of the edifice and the 
style of architecture can not fail to attract the atten- 
tion of the visiter to London ; and when viewed from 
the other side of the Thames, or from a boat on the 
river, the spectacle is really imposing and sublime. 
The two towers situated at the opposite ends are not 
yet finished. They will be very high and in good 
taste. 

The old Westminster Abbey stands near the parlia- 
ment buildings, and both on account of its history and 
its architecture, and considered as the burial-place of 
the most distinguished personages who have figured in 
British history, it is deserving of notice. It is a huge, 
gloomy, antiquated pile, with dark walls and hoary 
towers, spread out over a large area, and skirted with 
time-honored cloistsrsc and surrounded with the tombs 



410 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the long-buried dead. It excites a sort of awe, 
whether surveyed from without its walls, or standing 
beneath the groined and fretted vaults and arches of 
the interior ; whether rambling through the cloisters, 
paved and lined with sepulchral stones, wearing the half- 
defaced epitaphs of a forgotten generation, or pausing 
beside the monuments and reading the inscriptions that 
perpetuate the memory of the kings and queens, the 
orators and statesmen, the poets and artists, the 
philosophers and scholars, whose remains are interred 
within. The high arches ; the elaborate fret-work of 
some of the chapels ; the stained glass of the windows ; 
the long, gloomy aisles ; the marble tombs and monu- 
mental busts ; the snowy statuary ; the twilight shad- 
ows that hang over all, in the silent, solemn old abbey — 
are all well adapted to impress the mind and affect the 
heart ; and one who is at all thoughtful can not visit 
this vast temple, and linger for awhile among its in- 
structive memorials, without deriving useful le«;sons 
from the mournful epitaph ; the mute statue ; the sug- 
gestive monument ; the mouldering gravestone, and 
the fading, perishing memorials of the eminent dead. 
Nothing can be more solemn and impressive than to 
linger in this gloomy old abbey till the twilight hour, 
and then creep along its pavement when naught is 
heard save the solitary echo of your own footstep and 
the dirge-like chime of the bells in the church-tower. 

June 19. — If the reader please we will take a little 
excursion and run out a little from the metropolis and 
return again, after a short absence. From our hotel 
on Leicester square, we will take a cab and pass up 
Regent street, and Oxford street, and half a dozen 
more, bearing out toward the West End until we reach 
the '"'• Paddington railway station," wliich is a sort of 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. Ill 

crystal palace of incredible extent. Here we will take a 
second-class ticket for Oxford, in an express-train. We 
enter the coach. It is not as comfortable as one might 
desire. The seats are without cushions. The coach 
is wide, and the seats long enough to accommodate six 
persons. This fronts another of the same length, 
and both are full. There is a nurse, and four very in- 
teresting little children, who have just paid their firfjt 
visit to London, and they are talking very sweetly of 
what they have seen : the British Museum ; Zoological 
Gardens ; Madame Toussard's waxwork gallery ; the 
Royal Academy of Arts, and various other places ; and 
are showing the toys which they have bought, and the 
little presents they have received ; and are going home 
to tell mother and father and all the servants of the 
household a thousand things which they have seen 
and heard. 

But we are clear of the station, and are shooting out 
into the country. What beautiful fields and gardens 
and cottages and green trees and matted turf are 
around us ! Here is a little artificial lake, and there a 
winding stream, and yonder a splendid mansion on the 
hill top, and there a lovely country residence peeping 
out from the clustering trees in that quiet dell. We 
have a succession of garden-like farms on each hand, 
and away we go at the rate of forty or fifty miles the 
hour. We have passed Reading, with its more than 
twenty thousand inhabitants, and now we have halted 
at the Oxford station. Old Oxford, the seat of learn- 
ing. Let us take a ''fly" and fly round a little. We 
enter the town. It is situated on a flat level plain, on 
the banks of a small stream, and contains about thirty 
thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the students which 
generally number several thousands. Here is Christ's 



412 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Church College, with an immense library, and a large 
dining-room. Adjoining this college is the cathedral 
— old, and not particularly attractive. We pass on, 
not far distant, by All Souls' College, and next the 
University College, and then Queen's College, and 
next Magdalen College. Here we will drive across a 
bridge that leads over the Therwald, into the country, 
on the borders of which is a beautiful botanical gar- 
den, and down its banks, under the dark green boughs 
of the wide encircling trees, there is a most delightful 
walk, extending for more than a mile. But we return 
and pause before New College. Here we will descend 
and walk through the open court, and into the gardens 
in the rear of the college buildings. Here we find a 
rural and inviting spot, shut out from the noise of the 
busy, stirring streets, with secluded walks and pleasant 
grounds for recreation and enjoyment. But we are on 
our route again. There is Oriel College ; yonder Jesus 
College, and not far distant Lincoln College. Here 
we pass through an open court, and under the shadow 
of the great Bodleian Library ; and then here is Exeter, 
and Saint John's, and Trinity, and Worcester colleges, 
and several others ; altogether seventeen ; and three or 
four halls, which are colleges without the name, simply 
because they are not endowed. 

Let us back to the railway station, and take the train 
for Warwick, for* we must see Warwick Castle, and go 
to Stratford on Avon before night. Oxford is sixty- 
three miles from London ; Warwick is one hundred and 
six miles. The train is a little behind time, so it will 
but travel the faster. We are going nearly a mile a 
minute. We have passed Leamington, and now in five 
minutes we are at Warwick, the principal town in the 
central part of Warwickshire. Let us take a carriage 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 413 

for Stratford on Avon, requiring our driver to stop an 
hour at Warwick Castle, which is directly on the route, 
and just on the outskirts of the town. We stop at the 
outer gate, and are admitted by the porter, who is anx- 
ious to show us into a room containing a sort of muse- 
um made up of a collection of articles in some way 
connected with the Guy of Warwick. Here is an im- 
mense sword ; a piece of chain armor ; a walking stick 
about eight feet long ; the horns of some animals slain 
by the said Guy of Warwick, and a copper punch bowl, 
or porridge bowl, that would hold about one hundred 
gallons. An old woman points out the several articles, 
tells their history, and closes by raking the edge of the 
copper punch bowl, which gives out a sound that grates 
harshly on the ears, and but for its being a part of the 
performance, one had just as lief not hear it. Let us 
Vv^alk up the winding way, cut through rock and over- 
hung with trees. There are the castle-walls, and rising 
high in the air, there are the gray summits of the old 
towers. The mote around the walls is dry. We pass 
under an archway, through walls of great thickness, and 
stand in front of the castle, which is in a fine state of 
repair, and is at present the residence of the earl of 
Warwick. The earl and his family are absent, but the 
porter admits us, and an intelligent and courteous 
female shows us through the entire castle. In the hall 
we find the walls lined with swords and guns and 
armor, and broad antlers over the doors ; and deep re- 
cess windows, from which lovely views are obtained up 
and down the Avon, on the banks of which the castle 
stands. Then we pass through a long succession of 
elegantly-furnished apartments, in which are pointed 
out to us magnificent and costly pieces of furniture, each 
having its own history, pleasingly narrated by our fair 



414 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

guide, and full of interest. The walls of each apart- 
ment are lined with fine paintings from the best masters. 
Here are elegant portraits by Rubens, Titian, and Van- 
dyke, and splendid landscapes from other accomplished 
artists. At the farther end of the castle we look out 
upon a lovely park and grounds, where there are some 
of the finest cedars in the world. But we can not stop 
for the detail. Let us out into the grounds. We pass 
outside the castle-walls, beneath an arched gateway, and 
winding over a lovely lawn for a few hundred yards, we 
come to the conservatory, in which, among the plants 
and fragrant flowers we find the world-renowned " War- 
wick vase," found in Hadrian's Villa, near Tivoli, and 
first presented to George HI. by Sir William Hamilton ; 
and by George HI., to the earl of Warwick. It is a 
marble vase of immense size, and is a fine piece of work- 
manship. 

We return beneath the shadows of the old towers, 
with their battlements, and by the ivy-mantled walls 
of the castle, and hasten to our carriage at the outer 
gate, where we mount and start again for Stratford 
on Avon. The distance is eight miles. Our course is 
southward over a beautiful road, and through a portion 
of country that presents the appearance of a succession of 
finely-cultivated gardens. The sweet-scented hawthorn, 
with its white clusters of blossoms, forms hedges along 
every inch of the way. Old oaks and elms stand all 
along the road-side. Bean-fields and clover lots, with 
the growing wheat J and rye, and beans, greet the eye in 
every direction. It is a most delightful drive across 
the country. But here is Stratford. We stop at the 
Shakespeare hotel, and as the sun is low, and early in 
the morning we must leave for London, we will imme- 
diately go in search of the house in which the great 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 415 

poet was born. It is a low, small dwelling, with a rock 
floor, occupied during the day by a family who admits 
visiters to the three principal apartments ; asks you to 
record your name ; receives whatever you are disposed 
to give ; offers to sell you prints representing the dwel- 
ling — the room in which Shakespeare was born, and 
some of his favorite haunts. 

Now let us hasten to Trinity Church at the other ex- 
tremity of the town, and see the tombs of Shakespeare 
and his wife. They lie side by side in the extreme end 
of the church, with a bust of Shakespeare on a pedestal, 
above his tomb, and an epitaph, but it is too dark for us 
to read it. The sun has gone down, and the church is 
dark and silent. The great bard now sleeps in undis- 
turbed repose beneath our feet, and his perishable re- 
mains have long since mouldered to dust ; but the pro- 
ductions of his mighty mind live on in undecaying 
beauty and splendor, and will continue to brighten the 
page of his country's literature, when the hand of time 
shall have effaced the last letter of his epitaph, and the 
place of his interment shall be forgotten and unknown. 

We return to the hotel ; sleep soundly after a fatigu- 
ing day ; rise in the morning early ; pay an enormous 
bill ; seek the railway-station ; travel sixteen miles to 
Moreton in a coach drawn by horses ; then get in the 
express-train, and run a hundred and thirty miles in a 
little over three hours. We stop at the Euston Square, 
and a few moments afterward are again at the hotel 
which we left but a little more than twenty-four hours 
ago. 



416 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

BIRMINGHAM — SHEFFIELD — YORK — LEEDS AND 
MANCHESTER. 

Leave London. — Leamington. — Kenilworth Castle. — Guy's ClifF. 
— Birmingham. — Ministers. — Churches. — Manufactures. — From 
Birmingham to Chatsworth. — Castle, Gardens, etc. — From Chats- 
worth to Sheffield. — The Town and its Manufactures. — From 
Sheffield to York. — Cathedral, St. Mary's Abbey, etc. — Leeds. — 
Manchester. — Liverpool. 

Birmingham, Jwne 20. — We bid farewell to London, 
and again plunge into the country, the beautiful coun- 
try, with its enchanting scenery ; its smiling fields and 
meadow lands, fragrant with the newly-mown grass ; 
its growing harvests and blooming hedges ; its wood- 
crowned hill-tops and verdant valleys ; its parks and 
gardens, with cottages glancing out from the clustering 
shade-trees, and stately mansions and castles crowning 
the rounded summits of the hills that sweep in graceful 
curves around. We inhale the perfume of flowers and 
feel our lungs dilate with the fresh country air. How 
sweet and charming is the country ! How merrily the 
birds sing ! How blithe and gay the frolicsome lambs 
and kids that whiten the pastures skirting the wayside ! 
But we are in an express- train, and a hundred miles 
have glided by in less than three hours, and we stop at 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 417 

Leamington, on the route from London to Birmingham. 
Here, if the reader please, we will descend from the 
railroad-coach and take a Jiy^ and drive across the 
country five miles north, and take a look at the roman- 
tic ruins of Kenilworth Castle. The strip of country 
intervening is like much that we have seen in all direc- 
tions around the metropolis, so sweet and lovely that 
you can scarcely conceive of a solitary feature or ele- 
ment to enhance its beauty. The roads are like nearly 
all the public highways in England, smooth, firm, and 
wide, with hedges on each side, and footpaths with 
the borders lined and carpeted with a soft, luxuriant 
turf, that yields like velvet beneath the tread. 

Kenilworth Castle is situated upon an eminence on 
the northern limits of a small village called Kenil- 
worth, and like all the ruins of its class may be seen 
at a considerable distance in every direction. Sir 
Walter Scott's historical novel, under the title of 
"Kenilworth" has made almost every reader familiar 
with this interesting ruin ; for he has happily described 
it in its present state, as well as in the days when its 
walls were complete, its towers perfect, and its portals 
guarded, and when kings and queens were entertained 
in its elegant and spacious apartments, and courtiers and 
knights of the garter revelled in its halls. The castle 
has been kept from going to decay by the care and 
attention of the present proprietor of the estate. The 
broken walls and towers are mantled with ivy which 
clings to them like a vesture, and the open space within 
the enclosure is ornamented with gardens, and matted 
with grass, which is shorn down and kept as clean as 
the carpet of a drawing-room. We creep beneath its 
half-buried arches into underground apartments, and 
climb the deeply-worn, spiral stairways into its gray 

18* 



418 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

towers ; we pause upon its battlements to take a survey 
of the surrounding country, and linger beneath the 
shade of the ilex, the laburnum, and the cedar, that 
grow out of the crevices of the walls and spring from 
the accumulated piles of rubbish, and then retire, with 
the mind filled with the floating images of a bygone 
age, which has left its crumbling monuments and dim 
legendary tales for the present generation. 

Let us now take some refreshments at the little inn 
under the castle-walls, and then drive again to War- 
wick Castle, stopping by the way to take a peep at 
" Guy's Cliff," a romantic seat on the banks of the 
Avon, looking out on a darkly-shaded dell, where the 
waters of the meandering stream, after turning the mill 
just yonder among the trees and tumbling over the 
dam beneath the arches of the slender bridge, silently 
glide away and lose themselves in the forest below the 
cliff. We pass the town of Warwick, and drive to the 
castle, and stroll once more through its grounds, and 
then return to the station, and take an evening train 
for Birmingham. The sun is at the summer solstice, 
and at nine o'clock at night, I sit and write at my win- 
dow in the twilight, without the aid of artificial light. 

Birmingham is a large, growing town, of two hundred 
thousand inhabitants. It is known, the world over, as 
one of the most thrifty manufacturing places in Eng- 
land. It presents the same dingy, dirty appearance 
which is everywhere seen in manufacturing towns. It 
has a large number of dissenting chapels, and some 
very able ministers of the gospel, among whom is the 
well-known Rev. John Angell James, a stanch non- 
conformist, who, for more than fifty years, has resided 
here, in charge of a church, which has acquired immense 
strength, wealth, and influence, under his pastoral care. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 419 

The Methodists, also, have a strong hold in Birming- 
ham. There is but little, however, in the town, apart 
from its manufacturing establishments, to attract the 
attention of a visiter. 

York, June 23. — From Birmingham our route to 
this place by Barton, which gives Allsop's ale to the 
whole world, and Derby, thence by another line to 
Ambergate station, where we take a branch railroad 
which leads up the valley of the Derwin, by Matlock- 
Bath, a place of summer resort, situated amidst beauti- 
ful scenery, to Rowsley station, the terminus of the 
road, where we take an omnibus for Chats worth Castle, 
the celebrated seat of the duke of Devonshire. This 
is very justly regarded as one of the finest, if not the 
very finest seat in the whole of Great Britain. The 
castle, ornamental grounds, and parks, have so often 
been described by travellers that it would seem almost 
superfluous for me to attempt anything of the sort. 
The palace itself is an extensive and well-arranged 
building, presenting a striking exterior, though by no 
means superior to many other edifices of its class which 
meet the eye of the tourist in Great Britain. That 
which makes Chatsworth so attractive is, its ornamental 
grounds and parks and the elegant and refined taste 
displayed in the paintings and statuary with which the 
galleries of the palace are supplied. These galleries 
are very extensive for private collections, and the tal- 
ent of the best artists and sculptors has been laid under 
contribution to enrich them with the most choice and 
elegantly-executed pieces. In the sculpture gallery 
there are some of the very best and most exquisite pro- 
ductions of Canova, Thorwaldsen, Chantry, Wyatt, 
and Westmacott. The rooms are spacious and lofty, 
some of which are hung with elegant tapestry, and 



420 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

adorned with elaborate, and beautiful carvings in wood, 
executed by Gibson and Watson. The views opening 
from some of the windows of the picture galleries, as 
the visiter is conducted from room to room, are scarcely 
surpassed by anything in the world ; especially that 
view which commands the full prospect of the water- 
works and cascades situated on the brow and slope of 
the wood-crowned hill lying south of the palace. The 
view from one of the west-windows, taking in a portion 
of the gardens, with the fountains and ornamental 
grounds extending along the bank of the quiet stream 
that glides through the park, with the background of 
gracefully-rounded hills and forests that bound the 
landscape, is as lovely as the visions of an enchanting 
dream. 

But now, having descended from the upper apart- 
ments, and passed through the sculpture gallery which 
occupies a ground floor on the south side of the quad- 
rangular court, let us leave the palace buildings by a 
door leading from the green-house into the gardens, and 
take a turn in the grounds of unrivalled^ beauty and 
loveliness that lie around. Here we find endless varie- 
ty : trees and shrubs and flowers and grass-plats and 
fountains, distributed over an endlessly-diversified sur- 
face, embracing hill and dale and grotto ; rugged 
steeps and gentle slopes, with winding paths and orna- 
mental bowers ; sculptured images in snowy marble or 
sable bronze ; summer alcoves and winter retreats ; 
sparkling jets and placid lakes ; — in a word, all that 
could be desired to gratify the most capricious taste or 
in any way contribute to the most luxurious ease and 
refined enjoyment. In one place we meet with a wintry- 
looking tree, that attracts attention by its leafless limbs 
and rigid twigs, standing in the midst of surrounding 



V 

NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 421 

trees, clothed in the luxuriant green of a rich summer 
foliage, and our guide steps aside and lays his hand 
on a secret spring, and suddenly the water issues in 
curvilinear jets from every twig of the artificial tree, 
and the scattered drops catching the rainbow tints from 
the sunbeams adorn, with heaven's own jewelry, the 
grass, and shrubs, and flowers that lift their heads in 
the falling shower. A little farther, and our pathway 
is obstructed by a huge, unsightly rock, which threatens 
to arrest our progress in this direction ; but the slight 
pressure of a single hand makes it turn on a hidden 
pivot, and our party proceeds, passing under the shad- 
ow of topling crags, where shining cascades leap 
from the crevices of the frowning cliffs ; and beneath 
jagged archways of calcareous formations, and by the 
side of verdurous walls of living green, where the hol- 
ly and pine, the cypress and rhododendron, the labur- 
num and seringo, mingle their leaves and blossoms as 
though all were springing from one parent-stem. 

And now the lofty crystal roof of the grand conser- 
vatory bursts upon our gaze, lifting its beautiful propor- 
tions above the intervening hills and embowering trees. 
This is a splendid structure, being the first crystal palace 
that ever was reared. It is three hundred feet long, 
by one hundred and forty-five feet in breadth, and com- 
prises an area of about one acre, in the midst of which 
is a carriage-road. This great conservatory is filled 
with plants from every clime. Here we find especially, 
a large variety of tropical plants, with their broad fan- 
like leaves and large fragrant blossoms, among which 
are scattered the camphor and cinnamon trees and num- 
berless flowering shrubs. The temperature within these 
glassy walls is always th^ same, or nearly so, and the 
atmosphere, loaded as it is with the richest perfume 



4 1:2 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

" of incense-breathing flowers," is a most delicious 
luxury to the olfactories and the lungs. This mag- 
nificent conservatory was planned and constructed by 
Joseph Paxton (since of crystal palace notoriety and 
knighted by the queen), who at that time was the ser- 
vant of the duke of Devonshire. 

Near the entrance to the present Chatsworth build- 
ings there stands the remains of the old Chatsworth 
House, where Mary Queen of Scots was held as a pris- 
oner for thirteen years, a circumstance, it is said, which 
causes her name to be given to a suite of apartments in 
the palace. Hobbes, the philosopher, also spent many 
of his days at this celebrated seat. 

The oramental grounds of Chatsworth alone, com- 
prise an area of one hundred and fifty acres, while the. 
great park, which is stocked with deer and all sorts of 
.game, and has within its limits some delightful drives 
and points of almost boundless prospect, is twelve or 
fifteen miles in circumference. The estate of the duke 
of Devonshire extends for many miles around Chats- 
worth, the whole extent from north to south being 
scarcely less than thirty or thirty-five miles. 

Having finished our survey of Chatsworth, we stop a 
short time for some refreshments at the pleasant little 
hotel situated at one of the gates of entrance to the 
Park, and then take an open carriage across Bachelor 
Moors, a distance of fourteen miles to Sheffield. The 
face of the country is altogether different from that pre- 
sented in the more southern parts of England. Rock 
walls take the place of hawthorn hedges ; the land is 
broken and bristling with rocks ; long ranges of hills, 
swelling up into mountains, stretch away in every direc- 
tion. From some of the highest points the view ex- 
tends for many leagues over a wild and romantic re- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 423 

gion. Not very remote, in an easterly direction, there 
lie all that remains of " Sherwood Forest," so intimately 
associated with the name and exploits of Robin Hood ; 
a little farther south is Newstead Abbey, the mansion 
and estate of the Byron family ; and but a few miles 
farther, Annesly Hall, famous as the birthplace and 
patrimony of Mary Chaworth, the object of Lord By- 
ron's early and almost idolatrous attachment. In an- 
other direction, upon a bold eminence, is Haddon Hall, 
the seat of the duke of Rutland, presenting one of the 
best pictures of an ancient baronial residence, anywhere 
to be found. Farther south, and near the line of rail- 
road over which we passed on our way from Derby, by 
Mattock Bath, to Chatsworth, is Mayfield, where Moore, 
in a cottage that still remains, composed " Lalla Rookh," 
while all around the geologist and mineralogist may 
enjoy advantages which are afforded by but few other 
places in England. 

Shefiield is encompassed by an amphitheatre of hills, 
from several points of which fine views are obtained, 
embracing prospects of considerable variety and beauty. 
The town itself, like all large manufacturing places, is 
dingy and rather forbidding. There is but little to 
engage the attention of the visiter apart from its exten- 
sive manufactories of cutlery, Britannia metal, and pla- 
ted ware. We just take a peep into Rogers's brilliant 
and richly-supplied show-rooms ; glance at the me- 
chanical process of making knives, scissors, razors, nee- 
dles, etc. ; purchase a few small specimens of cutlery, 
for the little ones at home, and then hasten to the rail- 
way station, and book for York, which lies more than 
fifty miles north of Sheffield. It is ten o'clock in the 
evening when we arrive at the " Station Hotel," in the , 
good old city of York, and yet, in this high latitude, 



424 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

the twilight, even at this hour, is sufficiently strong to 
enable one to read without the aid of any other light. 
Two or three hours have been occupied in noting these 
recollections of the day, and I now pause for the repose 
which is necessary to repair the waste and fatigue of 
one of the longest days of the year. 

York, June 24. — Beyond the minster, or great cathe- 
dral, there is nothing of very special interest to the 
tourist in York. This celebrated church edifice is so 
like others of a similar sort which I have seen, when 
my appetite for sight-seeing was much keener than at 
present, that it awakened no exciting emotions in my 
mind, and I must confess that I made a long visit to see 
it, more for the sake of saying that I had seen it, than 
from any pleasure which I anticipated in gazing upon 
the vast pile, ranging through its ample courts, or hear- 
ing a guide recount its history, state its dimensions, 
descant upon its monuments, and enlarge upon its archi- 
tectural beauties. 

York has the reputation of having been founded 938 
years before Christ ; but little, however, is known of its 
history until the year 150 of the Christian era, at which 
time it was one of the greatest Roman stations in the 
province, having an imperial palace, a tribunal, and a 
regular government within its walls. Constantino the 
Great was born in this city in the year 272, and his 
father Constantius died here in 307. Remains of the 
old Roman walls, gates, and posterns, are abundant, 
and in a good state of preservation. The city stands 
on a small river which divides it into nearly two equal 
parts, on the great northern railway, about two hundred 
miles from London, and contains a population of a little 
more than forty thousand. 

The cathedral was founded in 626, and through sue- 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 425 

ceeding'ages has been enlarged, improved, and repaired, 
until now it stands out, as one of the finest buildings of 
the sort in the kingdom. It is 524 feet long, 222 feet 
from north to south in transepts, and 99 feet high. It 
contains the tombs of a number of archbishops, and of 
many other distinguished individuals, with curious epi- 
taphs, and coats-of-arms. Besides the cathedral, there 
are the city castle, originally built by William I., which 
is now used as a jail, the Yorkshire museum and gar- 
dens, in which are the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, the 
assembly rooms, and public cemetery, all of which claim 
a visit from the stranger in York. 

Liverpool, June 25. — From York to this great com- 
mercial emporium, where the roar and din of trade is 
like the constant murmur of the ocean after a storm, 
my route was through Leeds, Huddersfield, and Man- 
chester. The road lies through that portion of Eng- 
land, in which manufactures of all sorts are carried on 
to a far greater extent than in any other part of Great 
Britain. The passenger on this line, is never out of 
sight of the tall chimneys, rising, like lofty round tow- 
ers, from extensive establishments, producing cloths, 
cotton-goods, cutlery, silks, linens, hosiery, and every- 
thing else which the wants, real or imaginary, of the 
civilized world demand. The whole atmosphere is 
filled with smoke, and burdened with the hum of 
machinery, the sound of mechanical instruments in 
motion, and the heavy rumbling of drays, carts, and 
other vehicles, bearing goods to the stations where they 
are forwarded to market, while the tread of the loco- 
motive, the thunder of the long train, and the whistle 
of the engine, are never silent. 

We stopped a few hours at Leeds, where we had the 
pleasure of witnessing the process of manufacturing 



426 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

broadcloths, and again at Manchester, where we spent 
a part of two days, and were again conducted through 
some of the most extensive cotton manufactories, by 
polite and intelligent proprietors, who pointed out the 
whole process of producing cotton goods, from the 
breaking of the bale of raw material, to the finishing 
and packing process, when it is ready for market. 
Apart from the manufactories there is nothing particu- 
larly attractive to the stranger in any of the towns in 
this part of England. 

Liverpool has merely been taken in the route from 
the manufacturing districts to Dublin, which is the next 
point toward which we are now directing our course. 
A little mishap, such as all travellers are exposed to, 
has detained our party longer here, by a few hours, 
than was designed. Baggage that was forwarded from 
Derby, and which we were promised should meet us here 
to-day, has failed to arrive, in consequence of " a strike'^ 
on the part of some eight hundred clerks, in the em- 
ployment of the railroad company, which has caused 
immense confusion, and renders it entirely uncertain 
when we shall recover our luggage. We went, this 
morning, in search of it to the great warehouses belong- 
ing to the company, and when we surveyed the thou- 
sands upon thousands of packages tumbled together in 
endless confusion, extending for hundreds of yards 
along a succession of apartments, piled up from floor 
to ceiling, and were told that our trunks might be under 
these mountains of goods, or that they might be in 
some other warehouse in- the city, connected with the 
company, where an equal quantity of goods was heap- 
ed up, and where the same disorder reigned, or that 
they might be at Birkenhead across the river, where 
thousands of packages were piled up just as they had 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 427 

been discharged from the train, or, that they might 
be at some of the intermediate stations between Derby 
and Liverpool, we gave up the search as fruitless, 
and resigned ourselves to the misfortune as best we 
were able, and prepared to leave for Dublin, hoping to 
find them at a future day. 



428 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XXTX. 

FROM LIVERPOOL TO DUBLIN : DUBLIN AND THE LAKES OP 
KILLARNEY. BELFAST AND THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY. 

From Liverpool to Chester. — From Chester to Bangor. — Conway. — 
Tubular Bridge. — Holyhead. — Passage across the Channel. — Ap- 
pearance of the Country. — Dublin. — Saint Patrick's Cathedral. — 
Filthy District of the City. — Stephen's Green. — Wesleyan Metli- 
odist Conference. — Public Monuments. — Streets. — From Dublin 
to Killarney. — Lakes. — Condition of the People. — Return to 
Dublin. — Portadown. — Belfast. — Giant's Causeway. 

Dublin, Ireland, June 27. — The trip from Liver- 
pool has been exceedingly pleasant. The weather has 
been delightful, and everything favorable to the enjoy- 
ment of the scenery and the objects of interest and 
curiosity by the way. 

From Liverpool to the old city of Chester there 
is nothing worthy of note ; at least nothing that 
falls under the observation of one who runs over 
the distance in half an hour by an express-train. In- 
deed, the passenger who takes his seat at Birkenhead 
just across the Mersey from Liverpool, has barely time 
fairly to adjust himself, and look out, first on this side 
and then on that, at the objects that go whirling by 
him, before the shrill scream of the whistle announces 
that he is at the station. Chester is a very old city, 
with singularly-constructed houses, having porticoes 
running along in front, affording shelter for foot pas- 
sengers, and reminding one of Bologna and other 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 429 

Italian cities, where the houses are built on this plan. 
Moreover, it is a walled city, with gates and other 
relics of the past, recalling the olden time. The city 
has a population of nearly thirty thousand, with a 
cathedral, old castle, a number of churches, and other 
public buildings. The remains of Matthew Henry, the 
commentator, and of Parnell, the poet, lie in the Trin- 
ity Church. 

It is a most beautiful afternoon, and Nature wears her 
gayest apparel of vivid green, decked with flowers of 
every hue, and canopied with a clear blue sky. We 
leave Chester behind, and at the rate of forty or fifty 
miles per hour we fly westward toward Holyhead, 
along the coasts of the channel, through one of the 
most picturesque and romantic regions of Great Britain 
traversed by a railroad. It will be remembered that we 
are now in Wales, the whole of which, with very limit- 
ed exceptions, is a wild, hilly, mountainous, and broken 
country. At first the country is barely hilly, and in a 
fine state of cultivation, but as we proceed it grows 
more and more wild, rocky, and mountainous. The 
railroad lies upon the brink of the water, while the 
rugged, bare steeps run up in jutting headlands and 
hang over the way. These are penetrated by tunnels, 
or a narrow space is blasted out on the face of the 
rock, and walled up for the road, through which and 
over which we dash along at a furious speed, with the 
canvass-whitened bosom of the channel on our right, 
and the sun-crowned summits of the mountains tower- 
ing on our left. The waters flash and dance in the 
evening breeze, while the hills and crags, with the deep 
glens and vales intervening, assume all the shifting 
hues of the kaleidoscope. We pass under the shadow 
of the walls and towers of old Aberconway, and 



430 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

through the tubular bridge spanning the river that 
washes the castle walls, and after running under the 
hoary brows of a few mountain peaks, and glancing by- 
some cozy, quiet eddies of water, retiring from the 
channel, and sleeping in the sheltered coves at the foot 
of the hills, we stop at Bangor, not far from the Menai 
straits, where we take another conveyance for the 
great tubular bridge, which is the principal object of 
attraction on this route. 

Bangor occupies a small space in a pleasant little 
valley, walled in with two rocky ridges, just south of 
the beautiful bay of Beaumaris. It is but three miles 
to the Menai or Britannia tubular bridge. This re- 
markable triumph of modern engineering has been fre- 
quently described, and as my own knowledge of such 
specimens of architecture will not enable me to de- 
scribe it in adequate and accurate terms, I copy the 
following description which is from the best authority : 

" The hollow rectangular tubes, sustained in their 
position by no other power than that which they derive 
from the strength of their materials, and the manner 
in which these are combined, consist of plates of 
wrought iron from one half to three fourths of an inch 
in thickness, firmly riveted together, so as to form a 
single and continuous structure — one tube (or connect- 
ed series of tubes) serving for the passage of the up 
and the other for the down trains. The total length 
of each line of tube (regarded as a whole) is one 
thousand five hundred and thirteen feet, which is made 
up by the union of four separate lengths of tube — two 
of longer and two of shorter dimensions. The two 
main lengths of tube, each measuring four hundred 
and seventy-two feet, pass from towers constructed re- 
spectively at high-water mark on the Caernarvon and 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 431 

Anglesey shores to the Britannia tower — a structure of 
solid masonry, raised in the middle of the strait to the 
height of two hundred and ten feet, and based on 
a little rock formerly covered at high water. The 
shorter portions of tube connect the land towers on 
either side with the abutments which terminate the em- 
bankments upon which the line of railway is carried, and 
by which the shores of the strait are approached. The 
total weight of each tube (regarded as a whole in its 
entire length), is nearly five hundred tons, and the 
whole structure is elevated to a height of one hundred 
feet above the level of the water, so as to admit of the 
passage of large vessels unimpeded beneath it. In the 
construction of the tubes and towers as many as fifteen 
hundred workmen were employed. The tubes were 
formed on the ground, upon the Caernarvon shore, and 
afterward floated by means of pontoons, and subse- 
quently raised to the required elevation by the use 
of powerful hydraulic presses." 

From this somewhat elaborate description one might 
be led to expect a sublime and imposing structure, 
which would fill the mind with the most overpowering 
emotions ; but such is not the effect. It is rather to be 
considered as a wonderful piece of engineering and 
workmanship, and viewed in this light it will^ meet 
any reasonable expectation. 

The day on which we visited this bridge was one of 
the warmest ever known at least for several years in this 
part of the kingdom. The expansion of the material 
therefore, was as great, if not greater than was evei 
observed before. In the construction of the bridge, an 
arrangement has been made for the expansion and con- 
traction of the metal, under all the extremes of heat 
and cold to which it is exposed. On this day the ex- 



432 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

pansion was about two and a half inches. Some of 
my readers, however, may be a little surprised to learn 
that on this melting' day, as some were heard to call it, 
the thermometer stood at eighty-four degrees in the 
shade ! But this was 2ihot day for this part of Great 
Britain. 

Leaving the tubular bridge at sunset, we had a 
pleasant ride, over a region of country marked by no 
particular feature of interest, save the almost boundless 
succession of hills and mountains stretching away to the 
south, which sunk lower and lower as we approached 
Holyhead. Snowdon — the monarch peak in all nor- 
thern Wales, caught and reflected the sunlight, while 
the gathering shades of the evening settled in pensive 
beauty and loveliness upon the vales beneath. 

We reached Holyhead between nine and ten o'clock 
at night, but the twilight continued till past eleven. 
Holyhead contains a population of about six thousand. 
It is situated on a point of land that extends far out 
into the channel. " The promontory of the head is an 
immense precipice, hollowed by the ocean into magnifi- 
cent caverns, affording shelter to falcon and sea-fowls. 
In the neighborhood, a harbor of refuge, on a great 
scale, is in the course of formation." This grand public 
work affords employment for a large number of workmen. 

It was two o'clock at night when we embarked on one 
of the royal mail steam-packets for Dublin, or rather 
for Kingstown which is situated on the coast of Ireland, 
about nine miles from the city of Dublin, from which 
place the city is reached by railroad. The channel is 
sixty miles wide at this point, and 4;he pleasant little 
voyage was made in four and a half hours. The water 
was as smooth and as quiet as a mountain lake, unruffled 
by a breeze. After a refreshing nap we awoke to enter 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 433 

upon our tour of one of the most interesting portions of 
the British empire. The prospect of the country from 
the water was charming. The green sod on the slopes 
rising from the shore, the country residences gleaming in 
the morning sunshine upon the hill-tops in every direc- 
tion, and the blue mountain ranges of Wicklow in the 
background^ presented a pleasing view. But the train 
is waiting, and in less than half an hour we are on a 
jaunting car, making our way from the railway station 
to the Imperial hotel in Sackville street, in the splendid 
city of Dublin. 

To-day has been devoted to some drives about this 
metropolis of the " Emerald isle," and a cursory glance 
at its principal public edifices, parks and squares, with 
the elegant monuments to great and distinguished men 
reared aloft in the streets, all exhibiting the refined 
taste, public spirit, and indomitable patriotism of the 
sons of " Erin." 

St. Patrick's Cathedral is an old dingy, damp estab- 
lishment, situated in a filthy, dirty part of the city. It 
is a huge, irregular, and massive structure, without 
anything in its architecture worthy of notice. That 
which interested me most in my visit to its gloomy inte- 
rior, was the quaint epitaph, on a tablet inserted in the 
wall, perpetuating the memory of Dean Swift's servant, 
who, by his own idleness and the dean's wit, was 
cheated out of his breakfast. The residence of the 
eccentric dean stands near the cathedral, and not far 
distant from it is " the queer-looking old house rejoic- 
ing in the honor of being the birthplace of Moore," the 
great Irish poet. But now that we are in this misera- 
ble part of Dublin, let us pass round a few squares, for 
this I did, and looked into the wretched homes of these 
ragged Qhildren, squalid women, and lazy men, for they 

19 



434 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

swarm around you in the streets, as thick as the frogs 
of Egypt. Here we meet with offensive huckster shops, 
and '' stalls with putrid eels." The houses are with 
but little furniture, and look as though they had scarcely 
ever been swept or whitewashed from the day they be- 
came inhabited till the present hour. " How do these 
people get a living ?" inquired I, of an intelligent gen- 
tleman who had shown me through the cathedral. 
" Ah," replied he, with a rich Irish brogue, " that is 
hard to tell. But many of these boys live by staling' J^ 
Another gentleman replied by saying, *' That is the ques- 
tion I myself have been asking, and trying to answer 
for twenty years ; but have never been able to solve the 
mystery." 

A short walk conducts us by what was the bishop's 
house, now a barracks for soldiers, this part of the city 
not being sufficiently " dacent,^^ as my guide remarked, 
for the bishop to live in, and directly we emerge into 
more respectable looking streets, and continuing our 
walk, we approach ••' Stephen's Green," one of the most 
beautiful public squares of the city, and surrounded by 
the finest class of private residences, and public build- 
ings. Among the public edifices facing this square we 
may mention the Royal College of Surgeons, the Irish 
Industrial Museum, and St. Vincent's Hospital. The 
birthplace of Wellington, and the house which was for 
many years the residence of the great political leader 
of Ireland, Daniel O'Connell, are near this square. 

The reader must now indulge me in a little digres- 
sion. Facing this public ground there is a handsome 
church edifice, called the Wesleyan Methodist cente- 
nary chapel. Here I found the Irish Wesleyan Meth- 
odist Conference in session, and through the courtesy 
of the Rev. William Arthur, of London, I enjoyed the 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 435 

privilege of an introduction to the conference, and an 
opportunity of witnessing the deliberations of this in- 
teresting body of Christian ministers. From the dis- 
cussions on different subjects I learned a great deal of 
the religious condition of Ireland, and especially of the 
present attitude of popery in relation to protestantism. 

The past year has been one of increased prosperity 
among the Wesleyans. Their numbers have consider- 
ably augmented ; their missionary collections have im- 
proved ; their sphere of ministerial operations has en- 
larged, and all their educational and benevolent move- 
ments have been crowned with a larger measure of suc- 
cess than for some years past. This is equally true 
with regard to Wesleyan Methodism in all parts of the 
British Conference. This progress too, in Ireland es- 
pecially, has been at a time when Romanism never was 
more vigilant to guard its own members, or more ac- 
tive and energetic in making proselytes. Every ad- 
vance made by the Wesleyans is watched with extreme 
jealousy by Catholic priests, and no effort or expense 
is spared to throw impediments in the way of their suc- 
cess. 

I was exceedingly gratified with the warm reception 
which I met among these ardent and zealous ministers, 
and highly delighted with the manner in which they 
transacted their business. In this conference there are 
many eloquent and able preachers. The old men ap- 
pear to be full of vigor and zeal, and the young men 
have girded on the armor for unyielding contest with 
the " Man of Sin ;" and I am quite sure from the spirit 
manifested by them that Romanism in Ireland, has no 
body of combatants to contend with, that threatens 
more serious detriment to their cause than the Wesleyan 
Irish Conference. These ministers penetrate every part 



436 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

of the country ; visit the hovels of the poor ; enter the 
hamlets and villages ; preach in the streets and high- 
ways, and everywhere deal heavy blows on the brazen 
brow of " the beast." 

But to return. Dublin has some streets that vie, in 
point of breadth, elegance, and beauty, with any to be 
found in Europe. Sackville street is unsurpassed. Nel- 
son's monument occupies a conspicuous position in this 
fine street. It is a tall, fluted column, one hundred 
and twenty-one feet high, standing in front of the 
general postoffice, which is a handsome building, and 
is crowned with an admirable statue of the hero of 
Trafalgar, executed by a native sculptor of the name of 
Kirk. The pedestal and column are of granite, and the 
whole is in the finest style of monumental architecture. 

The Phoenix Park is a beautiful public ground on the 
outskirts of the city, and is a place of fashionable re- 
sort for a morning drive or evening promenade. The 
Wellington Testimonial stands near the entrance to 
this square. It is a quadrangular, truncated obelisk, 
of Wicklow granite, erected at a cost of one hundred 
thousand dollars. Inscriptions on the four sides of the 
obelisk, commemorate the principal battles of the Iron 
Duke. 

Dublin has many fine stores and shops, and a large 
number of enterprising merchants. The society in the 
better classes, is refined and intelligent, and the Amer- 
ican traveller is treated with the utmost politeness and 
attention. It is a pleasant place to spend a few days, 
and aff'ords many objects to gratify the visiter. 

Lakes of Killarney, June 30. — The railroad from 
Dublin to Killarney, a distance of nearly two hundred 
miles, lies for the most part through a fine agricultural 
district of Ireland. But on approaching the south 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 43T 

and southwest, where the lakes of Killarney are situ- 
ated, the soil becomes more rocky and less productive, 
and the thatched hovels of the half-starving tenants 
dwindle down to mere mud huts, scarcely fit to shelter 
a brute in wintry weather. The eye of the traveller is 
constantly attracted at this season, by the peat bogs, 
where the poor laborers, male and female, are engaged 
in raising this material and preparing it for use. This 
is done by cutting out pieces something larger than 
brickbats, and exposing it to the sun, till the moisture 
exhales, and it becomes dry and combustible. It makes 
fine fuel ; burning as freely as the best bituminous coal, 
and emitting heat and flame, and leaving, comparative- 
ly, a small residuum of ashes. This material is inex- 
haustible. It is abundant in all parts of the country. 
It is amazing to see what immense quantities of it are 
stored away for future use. 

For a number of miles before reaching Killarney the 
country becomes hilly and even mountainous. Indeed, 
the whole of the extreme south and southwestern por- 
tion of Ireland presents a continued succession of bare 
rocky hills and bleak mountains, scarcely less wild than 
Wales or even the highlands of Scotland. The in- 
habitants are miserably poor ; the cattle are small and 
thin, and everything, except the splendid demesnes of 
titled and wealthy landholders, presents the air of 
poverty and suffering. It is said, however, that the 
thinning out of the dense and overcrowded population 
by the famine and by emigration is tending to a better 
state of things in this part of Ireland. The small farms 
are bought up by agriculturists of capital, who are 
giving better wages for labor, and improving the culti- 
vation, and in this way leading to a more prosperous 
condition of the less numerous population. 



438 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Killarney is a small town, and is filled with a poor 
and miserable population. I visited the cathedral on 
Sunday morning, where there were at least fifteen hun- 
dred persons in attendance, and I am sure, of the poorer 
classes, not one female in twenty had shoes on her feet, 
and not one in fifty had a bonnet on her head. I never 
saw a colored congregation in any of the southern states 
that was half so miserably clad. Indeed there is no 
comparison, in point of apparel, food, and lodgings, 
between the poor Irish in the neighborhood of Killarney 
and the slaves of our southern states. They live on 
potatoes and stirup, or mush made of corn meal, and 
do not get a meat-dinner more than twice a year, name- 
ly at Easter and on Christmas day. This I had from 
the landed proprietors and from the poor themselves. 
It is from this region that the great masses of emigrants 
go to America, and one can scarcely meet a person that 
has not a child, a brother, or a sister, in America ; and 
every one among the poor who has the remotest pros- 
pect of ever being able to command the little sum ne- 
cessary to defray the expense of a passage in an emi- 
grant ship, looks forward to the time when he is to go 
to America. Among these very poor people, there are 
some who are very well informed, and very many who 
are exceedingly sprightly, and who possess a large share 
of good common sense. The American feeling is very 
strong here. Learning that I and my party were Amer- 
icans, they thronged about us, and asked us many 
questions about our country ; and, when we had mount- 
ed a jaunting car, to take a drive around the lovely 
lakes of Killarney, and over the beautiful demesnes 
of Mr. Herbert and Lord Kinmare, that border the 
lakes, a band of these Irishmen struck up " Yankee 
Doodle," and then took off their hats and gave us a 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 439 

round of hearty cheers ; crying, " Huzza for the Amer- 
icans and the land of liberty." 

The lakes of Killarney are beautiful. They are sur- 
rounded with bare and rocky mountains, and dotted 
with islands. We drove around them, and enjoyed the 
finest views from various points on their shores, and 
from some of the beetling cliffs that towered high above 
their shining waters. There are three lakes, called the 
upper, lower, and middle lakes. Returning from a 
drive around the upper and middle lakes we turned 
aside to take a look at the Tore cascade. From the 
main road we ascended a valley by a gravel path, lined 
with larch, arbutus, holly, and alder, until we reached a 
wild and romantic spot in the wooded dell, lying under 
the dark shadow of the Tore mountain, where the foam- 
ing and roaring cascade came leaping down a narrow 
gorge, between precipitous and shelving rocks over- 
grown with fern and trees, and made that tumultuous, 
reverberating sound among the overhanging hills that 
always adds a new and interesting element in the 
emotion of sublimity awakened by grand and imposing 
scenery. From this enchanting spot we ascended by a 
circuitous path to a more elevated point on the brow 
of the mountain, from which we had one of the finest 
views in Ireland. The snowy cascade was at our feet, 
and the music of the ever-dashing waters rose like the 
distant murmur of the sea upon our ears. The bare 
summit of Mangerton was in full view ; all the lakes 
were spread out before us and taken in at a single 
survey ; the green islands, covered with arbutus, con- 
trasted finely with the dark waters that slept under the 
shadow of the mountain ; the beautiful Muckross Abbey 
mansion glittered in the parting sunlight upon the mar- 
gin of the middle lake ; Lord Kinmare's splendid 



440 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

mansion appeared in the distance ; the ivy-mantled 
ruins of the old castle on Ross island, and of the 
Muckross Abbey on Mr. Herbert's demesne could all 
be easily discerned, while the sun dipped away behind 
the Dingle, and the hush and twilight of a calm and 
quiet summer evening came down upon the lovely scene. 

But time would fail me to describe in detail the 
many beautiful pictures that greeted our eyes in our 
frequent drives around the lakes, across the islands, 
and over the magnificent estates of Mr. Herbert, mem- 
ber of parliament, and of Lord Kinmare, which embrace 
the whole of the country for many leagues around the 
lakes. The poetry of Moore has thrown a fascination 
and charm around some of the islands and other local- 
ities connected with the lakes of Killarney. 

We have spent a part of three successive days in our 
visit to these lakes ; the weather has been perfectly 
charming, and we have been delighted in our rambles 
and drives, and feel no small degree of reluctance in 
tearing ourselves away from one of the most inviting 
localities that it has been our good fortune to visit, thus 
far, in Great Britain. To-day we shall return to Dub- 
lin by the same route over which we travelled in com- 
ing down to this part of Ireland, and to-morrow pro- 
ceed onward by Portadown and Belfast to the Giant's 
Causeway, which is situated on the northern extremity 
of the island. 

Belfast, July 2. — From the lakes of Killarney we 
returned to Dublin ; thence to Portadown, some forty 
miles north of Dublin, on the road to Belfast, where 
we spent a day in the family of Mr. William Paul, an 
accomplished and intelligent Christian gentlaman; 
thence to this place ; and to-day has been occupied in 
a delightful excursion to the Giant's Causeway, lying 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 441 

about seventy-five miles north of Belfast. We passed 
in sight of Lough Neagh, which is the largest lake in 
Ireland — a glimpse of which we had on yesterday 
evening between Portadown and Belfast. We found 
the country in a high state of cultivation. The crops 
look prosperous. The face of the country and the 
population present a very different aspect from that 
which meets the eye in the southern part of Ireland. 
We reached Port Rush, the terminus of the railroad, 
about eleven o'clock, and took a jaunting-car for the 
Causeway, distant about nine miles. Scarcely any one 
realizes his expectations on first seeing the Causeway ; 
but his wonder and admiration heighten the longer he 
remains, and the more attentively he studies this won^ 
derful natural curiosity. The guides narrate various 
interesting legends and traditionary stories, in showing 
the visiter round, and altogether, I suppose the visit 
paijs^ but that is as much as can be said. I shall not 
attempt any description of this wonderful work of 
Nature, as every child knows something of it, from the 
often-repeated descriptions contained in our elementary 
school-books. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon we again left Port 
Rush by rail, and reached Belfast at six. The steam- 
boat is to leave at eight o'clock this evening for Glas- 
gow, and our party will take passage with a promise 
of reaching Greenock on the Clyde by four or five 
o'clock in the morning, from which place we can run 
up to Glasgow, a distance of about twenty miles, in an 
hour. Belfast is a place of considerable trade, prin- 
cipally engaged in the manufacture of linen. Regular 
lines of boats ply from this place to Liverpool as well 
as to Glasgow. It presents a commercial air, and is 
said to have a large number of highly- respectable mer- 

19* 



442 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

chants. There are some fine public buildings and a large 
number of churches. But my sketches and notes are 
likely to occupy more space than can be comprised in 
a book of convenient size, and I must compress in a 
limited range what remains to be said of my travels in 
Great Britain. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 443 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE HIGHLANDS — GLASGOW — EDINBURG — ABBOTSFORD 
— ENGLISH LAKES — LIVERPOOL. 

From Belfast to Glasgow. — Excursion on Loch Lomond. — Ascent of 
Ben Lomond. — Glasgow. — From Glasgow to Edinburg. — The 
City of Edinburg. — Holyrood Palace. — Edinburg Castle, etc. — 
Visit to Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford. — English Lakes. — Ulles- 
water. — Wendermere. — The Country around. — Liverpool. 

Glasgow, July 3. — A good and comfortable steam- 
er, with a most polite and obliging captain, brought us 
last night from Belfast to this great and growing city. 
We left Belfast at eight o'clock in the evening, while the 
broad, yellow sun, which hung low over the blue moun- 
tains, threw a golden flood of light upon the green 
hills and fields, and kindled into a refulgent blaze the 
windows of the stately mansions that stood upon the 
rising ground on our right as we steered out northward 
toward the channel. A lovelier evening never smiled 
upon the " Emerald Isle ;" and her growing crops and 
meadow lands, and richly-carpeted hills and valleys, 
never appeared greener and more beautiful. Ireland 
is the gem of the sea. In the wide domain of the 
British empire there is not a more attractive or more 
productive spot than this island. In nothing have I 
been so agreeably disappointed as in the face, products, 
and population of this country. From the crowds of 



144 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

miserable creatures disgorged from filthy emigrant ships 
upon our shores from Ireland, Americans too often in- 
fer that the whole population, or nearly all, are of this 
class. It is a great mistake. Dublin is one of the 
most beautiful cities in Europe, and has a population 
that, in point of intelligence, refinement, and true 
politeness, vies with that of any city in Europe ; while 
the country-places are adorned with magnificent resi- 
dences and parks, and other evidences of a refined 
and cultivated taste that compare favorably with many 
of the fairest parts of England. In all the middle 
and northern portions of Ireland, the tillage is fiiic and 
the land yields abundantly. The whole face of the 
country smiles like a garden, and if the curse of 
Romanism were removed, which rests like a blighting 
incubus upon this beautiful and fruitful isle, and the land 
were more equally distributed among the millions of its 
inhabitants, there could not be a more desirable place 
of abode, or a more generally-prosperous and happy 
people, than in Ireland. As it is, a comparatively small 
number of rich proprietors hold the land, while the 
million pay enormous rents for small patches, and with 
the utmost industry and economy barely make a scanty 
subsistence. As I stood on the deck of the steamer, a1 
ten o'clock in the evening, and looked back through 
the silvery twilight upon the green fields and purple 
mountains of this beautiful island, resting like an em- 
erald upon the bosom of the sea, I felt sad at the 
thought, that, with almost unparalleled fertility of soil, 
and with abundant resources of wealth, if properly 
distributed and developed, here was a people capable of 
anything, almost hopelessly buried in poverty, and 
thousands upon thousands irrecoverably plunged in all 
the errors and gross superstitions of popery. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 445 

It was a lovely niglit. The twilight continued dur- 
ing the whole interval between sunset and sunrise, 
which was from half-j3ast eight o'clock, P. M., till half- 
past three, a. m. From three till four o'clock we were 
passing up the most interesting part of the Clyde, and 
on each side the scenery* was magnificent. The Rhine 
itself can scarcely boast of more splendid scenery than 
the Clyde for ten or fifteen miles below Greenock. 

At Greenock we took the railroad for Glasgow, a 
distance of about twenty miles, where we arrived at a 
little after six o'clock in the morning, and in full time 
for the seven o'clock boat which bears the passengers 
down the Clyde to Bowling, for the morning train lead- 
ing up the valley of the Leven for Loch Lomond and the 
Highlands. This proved to be a most delightful excur- 
sion. Passing from Glasgow Bridge down the Clyde, 
we had a fine view of the shipping, and especially of the 
shipbuilding which is carried on to such an immense 
extent along the borders of this river for several miles 
below the city. At a distance of twelve or fourteen 
miles we landed at Bowling on the right bank of the 
Clyde, where we took the railway, running directly 
north, about eight miles up the beautiful valley of the 
Leven to the foot of Loch Lomond. Directly after 
leaving Bowling we passed Dumbarton Rock and Cas- 
tle, which present a singular appearance. This rock 
rises to the height of five hundred and sixty feet, meas- 
uring a mile in circumference, terminating in two points 
of unequal elevation, and is now studded over with 
houses and batteries. Wallace was confined here for 
some time, previous to his being sent to England. The 
large two-handed sword, said to have belonged to this 
hero is still preserved and shown at this castle. On 
reaching the landing we took our passage on the steamer 



446 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

destined for the northern extremity of the lake. There 
was a large number of passengers. In the language of 
the tourist's guide : — 

" A sail of thirty- two miles is now before the travel- 
ler, which, for variety and beauty of scenery, is not 
surpassed in Europe. The lovely reposes at the feet of 
the sublime, and the enchantment of Italy, is, as it were, 
united with Alpine magnificence. As the steamer glides 
along, the scene is ever changing, and ever producing 
new combinations ; the varied beauty and grandeur of 
which keep the mind in a state of ecstacy during the 
whole trip. There is the fairy islet and the shining bay 
— the healthy slope and the gray gaunt precipice — the 
fertile fields and the rocky glen — the shepherd's shiel- 
ing and the lordly mansion — the sylvan knoll and the 
storm-scarred mountain — in the most bewitching and 
picturesque variety. Everywhere the scenery teems with 
historical associations of Rob Roy and Robert de Bruce 
It is the land of heroic deeds and heroes' graves, cal 
ling to memory the daring deeds of the past, and de 
lighting the eye with the most fascinating manifesta- 
tions of the beautiful and sublime." 

Our party made the acquaintance of an intelligent 
Scotchman, who proposed to accompany us to the top 
of Ben Lomond provided we felt inclined to make the 
excursion. We accepted his offer, and on reaching the 
landing near the foot of this mountain which rises im- 
mediately from the right shore as we ascend the lake, 
we left the boat, and engaged a sufficient number of 
ponies for the accommodation of our party, and em- 
ploying a guide to conduct us, we commenced the as- 
cent. These sure-footed, compact, well-built animals 
carried us at a rapid gait up the mountain. The sum- 
mit was about six miles distant, and at an elevation of 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 447 

more than three thousand feet above the level of the 
lake. Higher and higher we ascended, the circum- 
ference of the horizon extending at every advance. The 
air was clear and dry, and all the peaks and crags of 
the mountains, in every direction, were distinctly defin- 
ed against the blue sky, which was without a cloud. 

The scenery increased in grandeur the higher we 
mounted, until at last we reached the highest point, 
which we found perfectly bare, affording an unobstruct- 
ed view of all the surrounding country in every direc- 
tion. Five lakes lay almost directly under the eye. 
Loch Lomond could be traced from its southern border 
where we took the boat, to its extreme northern limit, 
the whole length being more than thirty miles. Loch 
Long lay beyond, while on the same side with us. Loch 
Katrine, the scene of Scott's Lady of the Lake, wound 
its sinuous course along the bases of the heather-crown- 
ed hills and under the rocky heights of the overhang- 
ing mountains, and still away to the east of our point 
of observation two other small lakes were distinctly 
visible. Ben Lewis and Ben Nevis, and divers others 
of the large family of Bens, were in full view. Stirling 
Castle and Edinburg Castle, nearly forty miles distant, 
could be distinctly seen. It was a grand and glorious 
view from this the highest point among the highlands 
of Scotland. 

We descended much pleased with our excursion, in 
time to take the next boat for the upper end of the 
lake. As we approached the northern extremity the 
scenery became more and more wild and imposing. 
Looking ahead the lake seemed to be lost among " the 
dusky and retreating mountains." Finally we reached 
a point where it terminated in a contracted strip of 
water, so narrow that the boat in turning round actually 



448 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

bridged it from side to side. We liad passed in rapid 
succession, Rob Roy's Cave, the Pulpit Rock, and the 
Glen of Inveruglass. High mountains, rugged hills, 
and cascades, were around us. 

As we returned the day declined. The shadows of 
the mountains stretched across the lake, and the frown- 
ing precipices and topling crags were all as distinctly 
seen in the glassy bosom of the unruffled waters, as 
standing out against the evening sky. The southern 
extremity of the lake widens out, and the mountains 
gradually sink into graceful hills, which slope down to 
the water's edge. 

Loch Lomond presents in its northern portion all the 
grandeur and sublimity of the wildest parts of Lake 
Como, and in its southern division all the beauty a,nd 
loveliness of Lake Maggiore. I have not the spact to 
go into any particulars in a description of the match- 
less lakes and the unrivalled highlands of Scotland. 
No traveller has ever yet adequately described the 
grandeur, sublimity, and beauty, combined in this most 
picturesque portion of the land of Burns and Sir Wal- 
ter Scott. 

Glasgow is a splendid city. It has grown up with 
almost unparalleled rapidity in the last twenty-five 
years. It has a substantial and massive appearance. 
The population is now nearly equal to that of New 
York, and portions of the city are quite as elegant as 
any part of that great emporium. 

Edinburg, July 5. — The country between Glasgow 
and Edinburg is in a very high state of cultivation. 
There is on the whole line of the railroad a succession 
of beautiful farms. The crops consist principally of 
oats, wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes. We passed on 
this route the ruins of Linlithgow palace, which has 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 449 

the honor of having been the birthplace of Mary Queen 
of Scots. The railroad enters Edinburg at the foot of 
the hill on which the castle stands, and the station-house 
is near the splendid monument of Sir Walter Scott. 

The new part of Edinburg is really splendid. The 
houses are in the most elegant and tasteful style of 
architecture, and the general appearance of this part 
of the city is attractive and beautiful. 

" In panoramic splendor," to use the language of 
another, " the site of this city is generally admitted to 
be unequalled by any capital in Europe, and the pros- 
pect from the elevated points of .the city and neigh- 
borhood is of singular beauty and grandeur. The noble 
estuary of the Forth, expanding from river into ocean — 
the solitary grandeur of Arthur's seat — the varied park 
and woodland scenery which enrich the southward pros- 
pect — the pastoral acclivities of the neighboring Pent- 
land hills, and the more shadowy splendors of Lam- 
ermoors, the Ochils and Grampians — form some of the 
features of a landscape combining, in one vast expanse, 
the richest elements of the beautiful and sublime." 

There are very many elegant public buildings in 
Edinburg, and some beautiful streets. It is distinguish- 
ed for its institutions of learning, its literary taste 
and refinement, its monuments, its able divines, its 
high houses, and its castle. Holyrood palace claims 
our first notice. But we shall only stop to look into 
this ancient residence of Scottish royalty ; to glance 
at the bed of Queen Mary ; to peep into the closet 
where the murderers of Rizzio surprised their victim ; 
to pass through the outer apartment where the stains 
on the floor are said to have been made by his blood ; 
to range through the large picture gallery lined with 
the portraits of one hundred and six Scottish kings in 



450 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

a horrid style of execution, and then descend to the 
ruins of the old abbey, and ramble among the tombs 
of departed royalty. 

Next we ascend the hill, in an opposite extreme of 
the city, and pay a short visit to the Castle of Edin- 
burg. This occupies a high and commanding position. 
From the top of the castle hill we have a fine view of 
the city, and of all the surrounding country for many 
miles in extent. Here we are chiefly interested in the 
Scottish regalia, the crown, the sceptre, and the sword 
of state ; the room where Queen Mary gave birth to 
James VI., in whom the crowns of England and Scot- 
land were united ; the great piece of artillery called 
Mons Meg, made of thick iron bars in 1486, and which 
is twenty inches diameter in the bore. It burst while 
firing a salute to the duke of York. So say the guides. 

This morning we took an early train, and ran down 
to Abbotsford, and Melrose Abbey, about forty miles 
distant from Edinburg. The ruins of Melrose Abbey 
consist in the remains of a large church and the sur- 
rounding cloisters of the old abbey, the whole of which 
was originally in a most ornate and magnificent style 
of architecture. It is now mantled in ivy ; and while 
we were rambling through its long-deserted apartments, 
the rooks were cawing above us among the dilapidated 
turrets and towers, and the smaller birds of gayer 
plumage and more musical note, were twittering and 
singing as they flew from one cluster of delicately- 
chiselled flowers to another, which peep out from the 
mantling vines that invest the decaying walls. These 
ruins, in the moonlight, are said to present a most 
picturesque appearance ; we saw them in the light of a 
clear sky in the early part of the day. 

Abbotsford, the celebrated seat, for so many years, 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 451 

of the great master-magician Sir Walter Scott, lies 
about three miles west of Melrose. It occupies a place 
on the banks of the Tweed, which winds through a 
lovely landscape in the rear of this strange-looking 
building, and does not seem to conform to the rules of 
any one style of architecture. It is situated in a valley, 
at the foot of a wooded hill that rises on the south, and 
immediately in front of the house. It is surrounded by 
walls which are entered by an arched gateway. The 
building is distinguished by its castellated turrets, and 
irregular, projecting windows. It is built of blue 
whinstone, with sandstone doorways, windows, cornices, 
and ornaments. Altogether it is a curious-looking 
dwelling. At present it is undergoing repairs, and a 
large addition to it, at tlie west end, is in process of 
construction. It is at present occupied by Walter Scott 
Lockhart, a grandson of the poet. 

The main door of entrance in front is surmounted 
by a huge pair of stag's horns. This conducts us into 
a hall filled with curiosities, chiefly of ancient and 
warlike kind, arranged along the walls. It is also 
ornamented with elegant carvings in wood. From this 
hall we pass into Sir Walter's study. It contains a 
writing-table, a plain ^rm-chair covered with leather, 
and a few books. This study opens into the splendid 
library apartment, which contains about twenty thou- 
sand volumes. The view from the back windows of the 
library is lovely. Here we find a fine bust of Sir 
Walter himself by Chantrey, and also a bust of Shake- 
speare, together with a portrait of the poet's eldest son, 
and a silver urn presented by Lord Byron. 

Next we pass into the drawingroom ; thence into 
the armory, filled with warlike instruments and other 
curiosities. Here we find the musket used by Rob Roy, 



452 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

and the pistols which belonged to Napoleon, found in 
his carriage after the battle of Waterloo. Adjoining 
this apartment is the dining-room, which contains a 
fine collection of pictures. In this apartment Sir Wal- 
ter breathed his last on the 21st September, 1832, after 
his return from Italy. Beyond the dining-room there 
is a small parlor, which is ornamented with a fine col- 
lection of drawings by Turner, Callcott, Blore, and 
other artists — " the original designs for the Provincial 
Antiquities of Scotland." 

Dryburg Abbey stands not very remote from Melrose, 
and here Sir Walter Scott was buried beside the re- 
mains of his ancestors and his wife. 

Liverpool, July 10. — From Edinburg our party came 
down into the lake district of England, lying midway 
between Edinburg and this city. Here we spent a 
few days, but the weather turned out to be unfavorable 
for the enjoyment of the lake scenery. Ulleswater, 
which lies ten miles north of Wendermere, and about 
the same distance from Derwentwater on the west, 
is a beautiful lake, about nine miles in length, and from 
a half to three quarters of a mile in width. It is 
entirely embosomed among high hills and mountains, 
and may be regarded as one of the most lovely and 
attractive of the English lakes. We approached this 
pretty sheet of water from Penrith on the north, and 
spent the Sabbath at a pleasant little hotel at the head 
of the lake. On leaving for Wendermere, our road lay 
along the brink of the water, to Patterdale, which is sit- 
uated at the southern extremity of Ulleswater, where 
we exchanged our open car for a close carriage, and a 
pair of fresh horses, and started through a drenching 
rain for Ambleside, which is situated near the head or 
northern extremity of Lake Wendermere. The extreme 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 453 

inclemency of the weather kept us within doors, for tho 
most part, and while we were surrounded by the homes 
of poets, and girt about with enchanting scenery, we 
were cut off from the enjoyment by the deluging torrents 
of rain that came down without cessation. Rydal and 
Grasmere lakes lie but a short distance from Ambleside, 
and the home of Wordsworth, " a lovely cottage-like 
building," as Mrs. Hemans calls it, " almost hidden by 
a profusion of roses and ivy,'* and the " Dove's nest," 
where Mrs. Hemans herself temporarily resided, are 
within a short walk of this quiet little town. All 
around were the resorts of Coleridge, Southey, Words- 
worth, and other celebrated poets and authors ; and 
there is scarcely a nook or dell, a country seat or rural 
hamlet, a mountain top, or a hidden glen, a shady re- 
treat on the shores of the lake, or a moss-covered rock 
by the woodland stream, that has not been made the 
subject of a poem. 

Had the weather been favorable, it would have af- 
forded me an unspeakable gratification to have spent a 
week in this region, but as the mountains were covered 
with clouds, and a murky gloom rested upon the lakes, 
I soon became tired and hastened away to Liverpool. 

On leaving Ambleside, our route for some distance was 
along the borders of Lake Wendermere. The scenery 
bordering this, the largest of the English lakes, becomes 
less and less grand and imposing, as one proceeds from 
its northern boundaries, where it is overshadowed by 
mountains that press upon its shore, toward the south- 
ern limit where it becomes narrow, and loses the attrac- 
tive framework which so much enhances the beauty of 
a lake. It is about eleven miles in length, and its bo- 
som is diversified with a number of islands which en- 
liven and beautify its surface. 



454 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

From what I have seen of the lakes of England I do 
not think they are to be compared with the lochs of 
Scotland. Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine are not sur- 
passed by any lakes in Europe. I love to think of them 
as I saw them from the top of Ben Lomond, and as 
they greeted my eyes when I glided over their waters. 
Old Scotland's hills, and heather, and gem-like sheets 
of shining waters, basking in the brilliant sunlight of 
long summer-days, will not soon be forgotten by me. 
How I should like to repeat my visits, and linger long 
in summer-time among the highlands ? 

Liverpool is not without its objects of interest to the 
traveller. Its docks, extending for five miles, packed 
and crammed with ships from every port in the world, is 
a curiosity and a wonder. The warehouses, with their 
mountains of bales and boxes, are well worth visiting. 
St. George's Hall, with its immense apartments and 
great organ, is deserving of attention. The town-hall, 
the exchange buildings, and the customhouse, are all 
splendid public edifices. Saint James's cemetery, which 
was once a quarry of red stone, and is deeply excavated 
below the streets, is a curiosity. The Zoological Gar- 
dens repay a visit. Liverpool contains a population of 
about four hundred thousand, and is one of the first, if 
not the firsts commercial city on the globe. 

But I must close my random sketches and notes of 
travel. I have written often in great haste, and paid 
perhaps too little attention to my composition. In a few 
days I shall take passage for New York, on the steam- 
ship Persia, on which our party came out in the winter. 
My health is greatly improved, and I and my compan- 
ions in travel, to whom I am greatly indebted for much 
of my comfort and enjoyment since I have been abroad, 
have occasion to feel grateful to the kind Providence 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 455 

which has thus far preserved us from any accident, or 
painful occurrence, in all our journeyings by land and 
sea. I shall not soon forget the courteous, polite, and 
obliging dispositions of the young gentlemen who have 
accompanied me. They have contributed largely to 
the pleasure of my tour. 



456 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

CONCLUSION. 

American Tourists in Europe. — Objects which most Interest them. — 
Sources of Information. — Natural Scenery Compared with Amer- 
ican Scenery. — Mountain Scenery in Switzerland. — Landscapes 
in Italy. — Skies and Sunsets in Italy compared with those Present- 
ed in America. — English Tourists. — The Fine Arts. — Criticisms, 
etc. — Night on the Ocean. 

The American tourist in Europe, who travels to in- 
crease his stores of knowledge and to widen the area of 
scientific research, will find an ample field and inex- 
haustible resources of information. France, with a lib- 
erality that is perfectly amazing, has established in 
Paris, schools of the highest grade in every department 
of learning, where, without fee or reward, the American 
may avail himself of the advantage of hearing lectures 
from men of the profoundest erudition, embracing the 
whole range of medicine, law, and divinity, and espe- 
cially everything new and old, in the whole circle of 
the sciences. Besides these lectures he has the benefit 
accruing from the most extensive libraries, museums, 
and lyceum halls, in which is congregated everything 
that can, by possibility, illustrate any department of 
science or of curious and learned investigation. I can 
not speak in too high terms of the liberal policy of 
European governments generally in this regard. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 457 

But the most inviting field of all is spread before the 
American tourist who travels to feast his eyes on the 
natural scenery, and on the products of genius in the 
fme arts, and in the magnificent specimens of architec- 
ture, so abundant in Europe. To one of cultivated 
taste, and who has any tolerable degree of information 
in relation to the objects of interest which are to greet 
his eyes and engage his attention, I know of nothing 
which supplies so much material for enjoyment and the 
increase of knowledge as a European tour. I now speak 
of the tourist who takes a wider range of survey than 
the mere student who goes in pursuit of purely scien- 
tific information, and who confines himself to a single 
line of research and investigation. I speak of the 
man or woman whose intellect has been trained and ex- 
panded by previous study — whose reading has been 
sufficiently varied to have acquired a large share of in- 
formation in relation to the geography, the governments, 
the history, the religions, the institutions, the architec- 
ture, the fine arts, the national peculiarities and the 
scenery of Great Britain and of the continent of 
Europe. To an American thus prepared, there is a 
succession of delights from the time he plants his feet 
on the fatherland until the receding shore " fades o'er 
the waters V)lue," as he stands on the deck of the ocean 
steamer, homeward bound. 

To one reared in our broad, free country, where 
everything is new and in its infancy ; where vast, un- 
broken forests have been spread around him from his 
childhood ; where zigzag fences enclose the newly- 
cleared fields ; where the hills and mountains break away 
in endless chains, and enclose fertile valleys that might 
cradle an empire ; where majestic rivers, swelled by a 
thousand tributary streams, stretch from distant moun- 

20 



458 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

tains to the ocean, skirted by a dozen states, eacli 
one of which is larger than England ; where towns 
spring up in a day, and large and flourishing cities in 
a few years ; to one accustomed to a country like ours, 
the dingy old buildings, the solid, massive masonry, 
the timeworn pavements, the antiquated residences, 
and the decaying old castles and palaces of Europe, 
present a strange and foreign aspect to the eye. The 
American who has climbed our mountains, voyaged on 
our ocean-like lakes, traversed our vast prairies, and 
heard the thunder of Niagara, sees nothing in Great 
Britain, especially in England, that measures up to 
his conceptions of the majestic, the grand, and the sub- 
lime. And yet he will be charmed and delighted with 
the magnificent parks, the pretty little lakes set in a 
beautiful framework of graceful hills, the regular lines 
of mock-orange, and the sweet-scented hawthorn hedg- 
es, the green fields and lazy streams, the picturesque 
trees bestudding the richly-carpeted lawns, and the 
rim of blue hills, that meet the eye wherever it is 
turned. 

But Switzerland is the land of grand and sublime nat- 
ural scenery. The great Alpine ranges stretch from 
one extremity to the other of this republic, around 
which, in part, despotic governments have thrown up 
civil and political barriers, more difiicult to overleap 
than the loftiest summits of the Alps, which cleave the 
sky, and glitter in the same eternal snows amid all the 
changes in governments and seasons that transpire 
around. Oh ! it is glorious to stand amid the wild and 
rugged scenery of the Alps ; to watch the aerial tints 
that flit along the snow-sheathed summits of the giant 
peaks, as the sun sinks away in the west, and the change- 
ful clouds reflect vermilion and gold from their fleecy 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 459 

masses upon the distant and solitary heights ; to see the 
avalanche break away from the sunlight and thunder 
down the mountain sides, and waken a thousand rever- 
berating echoes in the deep, dark valley below ; to 
gaze across the frightful chasm that parts at your feet, 
and fasten the eye upon the snowy cascade that crystal 
izes in its descent, and hangs in resplendent jewelry 
upon the jagged rocks ; to look far down into the green 
valleys that border the flowing streams ; to hear the 
distant murmur of the waterfall, and take in at one 
sweep of the eye, all that the imagination can depict as 
belonging to the most perfect and finished landscape 
that ever broke on mortal sight. 

For soft and picturesque landscapes — landscapes of 
unrivalled loveliness and beauty — Italy is the favored 
land. And yet it must be admitted that much of the 
interest with which an American looks on Italian land- 
scapes is derived from the classic and historical associa- 
tions which throw an indefinable charm and fascination 
around them. The fact that the landscapes are the 
same in all the material natural features, as when they 
greeted the vision of Horace, Yirgil, and Cicero, of 
Terrence, Juvenal, Tacitus, and Livy, excites a new ele- 
ment of pleasurable interest in the mind. The same 
blue skies that bent in beauty over Italy, in the days of 
Rome's greatest glory and noblest triumphs, still meet 
the eye of the traveller in that sunny land ; the same 
gorgeous and glorious sunsets that fired the poet's heart, 
and gave the coloring to the artist's picture ; the same 
campagna, the same mountains, the same lakes and 
running streams, are there ; nor has the lapse of ages 
wrought any great change in the minuter details of the 
face of the country since Cincinnatus ploughed and Vir- 
gil sung. 



460 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Much has been said and written about the beauty of 
Italian skies, and the matchless glories of her sunsets. 
I do not hesitate to say that we have in America, at 
certain seasons of the year, as beautiful skies and as 
resplendent sunsets as ever met the eye of the tourist 
in Italy. I have seen the sun go down from the Pinci- 
an hill in Rome with the dome of Saint Peter's blazing 
under the eye ; I have seen it sink away over the blue 
waters of the Mediterranean from the slopes of Vesu- 
vius, near Naples, with the canvass- whitened bay in full 
view ; I have watched it dip behind the snow-capped 
Alps from the octagon tower of the cathedral of Milan, 
when the mountains blushed in roseate hues on receiv- 
ing the parting kiss of the fading sunbeams ; I have 
seen it pass away from the sight behind the blue hills 
that bound the westward view from the gardens of the 
Pitti palace in Florence ; and I have watched and 
watched the pencils of light vanishing from turret, and 
tower, and dome, and mountain top, and seen the golden 
blaze deepen into the silvery twilight, and the twilight 
melt by insensible gradations into the full-orbed moon- 
light, as the shadows of the mountains trembled on the 
bosoms of sleeping lakes, and the purple of the coming 
night lay along the sides of the hills : and yet, I am sure 
that, when our great forests have put on the russet and 
orange-tinted robe of the sober autumn-time — when the 
whir of the quail is heard in the fields and the bark of 
the squirrel in the wild-woods — when the pearly atmo- 
sphere has sparkled with the breath of early frost, and 
the boundless arch of heaven has spanned the world 
without a cloud — I have seen as gorgeous, grand, and 
sublime sunsets from the mountains of Virginia and 
North Carolina, as ever quickened the pulse or thrilled 
the heart of the tourist in Italy. 



NOTES OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 461 

English writers have given celebrity to Italian skies 
and sunsets. A bright, clear day, when the eye can 
range round a wide circumference of vision, is a rare 
thing in England : and when an Englishman gets out 
of the damp, murky atmosphere of his own country 
into the south of Europe, where he has a long succes- 
sion of days, in which the sun may be seen from the 
time he clears the horizon in the morning until he goes 
down in the evening, and where the brilliant stars may 
be seen twinkling in undimmed brightness on the sap- 
phire vault of night, he goes into ecstacies ; and yet 
he would do the same in the United States, if he did 
not grudge the compliment to anything that is Ameri- 
can. Indeed, some of the more liberal of English 
tourists who have deigned to travel in our country — 
while they have abused our institutions, stigmatized 
our government, ridiculed our senators, caricatured our 
ladies, made fun of our orators, lampooned our authors, 
and shed crocodile tears over our servile population, a 
thousand times better off than the peasantry of their 
own country — have nevertheless condescended to bestow 
a few stinted compliments upon our skies and sunsets. 
We ought, to be sure, to be thankful for small favors 
at the hands of John Bull. 

But I must turn again to another interesting and 
pleasing class of objects that engages the attention of 
the American tourist in Europe. I refer to the wonder- 
ful productions of genius in the fine arts. 

Italy has contributed more in all periods of her his- 
tory to the fine arts — especially in sculpture and 
painting, than any other country in Europe. It would 
seem that the long-buried and hidden treasure of this 
land were really inexhaustible. From the rubbish of 
decayed villas, from the excavated remains of once 



462 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

splendid baths, from the uncovered ruins of old palace 
halls, from the exposed chambers of private mansions, 
from the gardens of princely millionares, and from the 
courts of public buildings, hundreds and even thou- 
sands and tens of thousands of pieces of statuary have 
been recovered in the last few centuries ; and while 
many of these pieces, now preserved in the public 
museums and private galleries of the country, are of no 
particular value, there are among them some of the 
finest productions of the chisel that have ever come 
from the hand of man. 

In painting we have the productions of Raphael, 
Domenichino, Guido, Tintoretto, Correggio, Caracci, 
Paul Veronese, Michael Angelo, and a host of others, 
all of whom have executed their choicest pieces under 
Italian skies. 

The sculpture galleries of Europe so far transcend 
anything of which an American has any previous 
knowledge, from actual observation in his own country, 
that he feels bewildered and amazed on his first intro- 
duction to the vast collections which he finds congre- 
gated in the immense public museums, and private gal- 
leries of Europe. Many of the old pieces which have 
attracted most attention and about which the guide- 
books have most to say — the pieces which have passed 
the fiery ordeal of criticism, and by common consent 
have been pronounced chefs cVmuvres in the art, are as- 
cribed to the most celebrated sculptors of a bygone 
age. But this question of authorship is often a mere 
guess, and has no confirmation, except on a sort of 
comparative anatomy principle. This is true in rela- 
tion to the Yenus de Medici, the Apollino, the Apollo 
Belvidere, the Dying Gladiator, and the Apollo An- 
tinous. 



NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 463 

But it has become the fashion of tourists to praise 
everything that is attributed to the old masters, both 
in sculpture and painting ; while ^n fact one half of 
those who write about them, would never have been 
attracted by an extraordinary line oi beauty, or arrest- 
ed by a solitary remarkable feature, had not their at- 
tention first been directed to the subject by the guides. 
it requires a practised eye, and a taste cultivated by 
study and observation, to appreciate as a general thing 
tlie most exquisite productions of the pencil and the 
chisel. 

Everybody is expected to go into ecstacies over the 
Venus de Medici and the Apollo Belvidere, and yet 
my first impression of the one was, she is a pretty little 
woman ; and of the other, he is a handsome, fine- 
looking gentleman. But before the Dying Gladiator, 
I he group of Niobe, the Laocoon, the bronze Mercury 
in repose, the group of the Farnese Bull, and the 
Venus of Milo, I paused as if arrested by an invisible 
hand, and stood mute and breathless. In each of these 
I seemed to see the chest dilate, the nostrils expand, 
the muscles move, and the marble lips to part. To my 
eye they are but little short of breathing marble and 
animated bronze. 

Many of the paintings which it has become the fashion 
of American tourists, in common with others, to praise 
and admire, are old, marred, and faded, or patched up, 
so that, in many instances, but little more than a dim 
outline of the original remains. This is true of Raph- 
ael's Entombment of Christ, painted on boards, and 
now in the Borghese palace in Rome ; of Leonardo da 
Yinci's Last Supper, on the walls of the old refectory 
at Milan ; of Rubens celebrated Descent from the 
Cross, in the cathedral at Antwerp, and also of the 



464 RANDOM SKETCHES AND 

Crucifixion of Saint Peter, by this distinguished artist, 
found in the church of Saint Peter at Cologne. I have 
seen copies, almost without end, by living artists, of 
these far-famed pictures, which, to my unpractised eye, 
are far more attractive and beautiful than the originals. 
But the frescoes of Raphael, in the halls of the Vatican, 
of Michael Angelo, in the Sistine chapel, and of Guido's 
Aurora, in the Rospigliosi palace, can never be copied. 
They must ever remain in their peerless and inimitable 
beauty upon the walls where they were first executed 
by those great, creative, and original geniuses, who have 
had no successors in the art. 
But I must close 

It is night on the ocean. The longest portion of the 
voyage from Liverpool to New York is behind us. For 
six or seven days in succession we have encountered 
head winds and a rough sea. But the skies are again 
cloudless, and our white sails are pressed by favoring 
winds, light, and gentle, scarcely curling a ripple upon 
the bosom of the sea ; but they fill out the canvass, and 
steady the motion of the ship that now makes fifteen 
knots per hour. What a glorious night ! It is almost 
as bright as day. The mirror-like surface of the un- 
ruffled deep stretches from horizon to horizon. Its 
profound and unfathomable depths reflect back the 
twinkling light of the diamond stars that 

"Wander unwearied through the blue abyss." 

The broad full moon has just cleared the horizon, 
and spread its silvery mantle upon the dimpled waters 
that sleep around us, and sparkle and flash in the wake 
of our noble ship. Sullen and calm the dark sea lies 
before us, like an ocean of molten lead, while in the 



N0TL3 OP EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 465 

direction of the rising moon, whicli is nearly in a lino 
with the snowy trail of foam left in our track, the 
ocean's bosom glows and burns with a path of fire, as 
bright and luminous as if the chariot of the sun had 
passed over this highway of the seas and scattered the 
golden scintillations of the great orb of day beneath the 
tread of its fiery wheels. A half dozen vessels are in 
sight, creeping like spectres along upon the utmost 
verge of vision, or hovering, like great night-birds on 
outspread wings, upon the confines of a mysterious 
world, lying beyond the rim where the great arch of 
heaven stoops and touches the ocean. The night wears 
away, and still the passengers linger on deck. One 
leans yonder against the mast ; another moves quietly 
along, with his arms folded on his bosom, absorbed in 
thought ; another leans over the railing and watches 
the phosphorescent sparks that shoot like meteors in the 
depths below, and listens to the liquid laugh of the 
waves as they go joyously along by the ship ; and 
yonder is still another group seated in a circle by the 
great red chimneys, conversing in merry mood of the 
loved ones far away ; and still another, singing the 
songs that bring up vividly the home-circle, and the 
fond recollections of childhood. My mind wanders far 
over the path I have travelled since I parted from the 
port to which we are now drawing near and still nearer 
with each passing hour. My heart is filled with grat- 
itude to the great Author of all good for his kindness 
in preserving me, and so far restoring me to health, 
during the period of my wanderings in distant lands. 
But I look ahead, and in my own quiet parsonage 
home, I see the dear ones that anxiously wait my 
return. I hear the fond greetings that are in reserve 
for me. 



466 NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 

Seven bells of the first watch of the night have just 
been struck, and the cry "All's well!" rings along 
the vessel's deck, and dies away without an echo upon 
the sea. I tear myself from the scenes of enchantment 
around me, and close my ''Random Sketches and 
Notes of Travel." 



THE end. 



LIST OF BOOKS 

PUBLISHED BY 

rIARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. 



Harper's New Monthly Magazine. 

Each Number of HAP.PER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE 
contains 144 octav^o pages, in double columns, each year thus 
comprising nearly two thousand pages of the choicest Miscella- 
neous Literature of the day. Every Number will contain numer- 
ous Pictorial Illustrations, accurate Plates of the Fashions, a co- 
pious Chronicle of Current Events, and impartial Notices of the 
important Books of the Month. The Volumes commence with 
the Numbers for June and December; but Subscriptions may 
commence with any Number. 

Terms. — The Magazine may be obtained of Booksellers, Peri- 
odical Agents, or from the Publishers, at $3 00 a 3"ear, or 25 cents 
a Number. The Semi-annual Volumes, as completed, neatly bound 
in Cloth, are sold at $2 00 each, and Muslin Covers are furnished 
to those who wish to have their back Numbers uniformly bound, 
at 25 cents each. Twelve Volumes are now ready, bound. 

The Publishers will supply Specimen Numbers gratuitously to 
Agents and Postmasters, and will make liberal arrangements with 
them for circulating the Magazine. They will also supply Clubs 
of Two persons at $5 00 per year, or Five persons at $10 00. 

The Magazine Aveighs over seven and not over eight ounces. 
Tlie Postage upon each Number, which must be j)aid quarterly 
in advance, is 3 cents. 

The circulation of HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE is now great- 
er tlian at any previous time since its publication was commenced, and is still 
steadily and rapidly increasing. The same plan which has made it so popular 
liitherto will continue to be pursued. It will aim to present regularly, in more el- 
egant dress and at a cheaper rate, a larger amount of better reading matter than 
has ever been given to the Public in any similar periodical, either foreign or do- 
mastic. Its contents will be made up v.'ith constant reference to the wants and 
tastes of the great body of the Amcricaa people, rather than those of any particular 
class or profession. While it will be the endeavor of its Publishers, in all its de- 
partments, to combine entertainment with instruction, special care will be taken 
to exclude everything that can give just cause of complaint to any interest or any 
seciion of the country, and especially every thing that can offend the most fas- 
tidious, on the score of taste or morality. A large number of interesting and val- 
uable articles have already been prepared for the next volume; the series of Pic- 
torial Articles, written by the most popular authors and illustrated by the most 
gifted and popular artists in the United States, expressly for the Magazine, will be 
continued ; the choicest productions of American and European literary talent will 
be selected for its pages ; the variety, interest, and attractiveness of its Editorial 
Departments will be increased ; and nothing will be left undone to merit that large 
share of public favor with which thus far their enterprise has been received. 



2 HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF BOOKS. 

Harper's Weekly. A Journal of Civilization. 

Terms.— Harper's Weekly will appear every Saturday .Mok.m.ng, and will 
be sokl at Five Cents a Copy. It will be mailed to Subscribers at the following 
rates, payinent being invariably required in advance . One Copy for Twenty 
Weeks, $1 00 , One Copy for One Year, §2 30 , One Copy for Two Years, $4 00 ; 
Five Copies for One Year, §9 00 , Twelve Copies for One Year, $20 00 , Twen- 
ty-five Copies for One Year, $40 00 

Neither labor nor expense will be spared to make it the best Family Newspa- 
per in the World— one whose cheerful and genial character will render it a wel- 
come visitor to every household, while its constant devotion to the principles of 
right and justice shall win the approbation of the wise and the good. Its object 
will be to set forth sound views on Political, Social, and Moral questions ; to dif- 
fuse useful information ; and to cultivate the graces and amenities of life. 

Harper's Weekly will contain a full and impartial Summary of the Political, 
Social, Religious, Commercial, and Literary News of the day. It will chronicle 
the leading movements of the age, record the inventions of genius, the discoveries 
of science, and the creations of art. It will, in a word; aim to present an accurate 
and complete picture of the age in which we live. 

It will also give a due share of attention to the taste, the imagination, and the 
feelings. Its regular contents will embrace Tales, Incidents of Travel and Ad- 
venture, Sketches of Character and Social Life, and Essays upon Art and Morals. 

Th.. Publisliers have made arrangements with the best American writers, who 
will contribute to the various Departments of the paper. The large space at their 
disposal will enable the Conductors to avail themselves of ample selections from 
the best and most healthful literature of the Old World. In addition to this, they 
will keep a vigilant eye upon the issue-s of the English, French, and German Pe- 
riodical press, the best productions of which will be transferred to the paper under 
their charge. 

Harper's Weekly is not intended in any way to supersede or take the place 
of Harper's New Monthly-Magazine. Each Periodical will confine itself to 
its own proper sphere , and no portion of the contents of the one will appear in 
the other. 

Harper's Weekly will contain Sixteen pages of the size of the London Illus- 
trated News, each Number containing as much matter as an ordinary duodecimo 
volume. It will be printed in a form and upon paper suitable for binding , and as 
the pages will be electrotyped, the back Numbers can always be supplied, so that 
Subscribers will be able at any time to complete their files. At the close of each 
volume, neat and appropriate Covers will be prepared for the convenience of those 
who wish to bind the paper. 

Harper's Statistical Gazetteer of tlic World, 

particularly describing the United States of America, Canada, 
New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. By J. Calvin Smith. Illus- 
trated by Seven Maps. Complete in one Volume, Royal 8vo, 
Muslin, S-J 00; Sheep extra, $5 75; Half Morocco, $6 00. 
The general reader, the student, the merchant, and the artizan, will find in this 
work all the information adapted to their special requirements, brought down, as 
nearly as possible, to the present day, in a form more commodious and accessible 
than in any other work of similar character which has ever been offered to the 
public. The late censuses of the United States of America, Canada, New Bruns- 
wick, and Nova Scotia, and the returns of Mexico, the States of Central America, 
South America, Great Britain, and the countries of Continental Europe, and many 
elaborate and complete works upon Statistics and Geography, and various special 
branches of science, have been laboriously consulted in the preparation of tho prjs- 
ent work, and the information contained in them has been arranged and cla3.^ilicd 
in such a manner, as to be really availabl? tn the in(iuirer. 



1 



HARPER & EROTIIERS' LIST OF BOOKS. 3 

Tickiior's History of Spanish Litertifiire. 

With Criticisms on the pai-ticijai- Works, and Biographical No- 
tices of prominent Writers. 3 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $6 00 ; Sheep 
extra, $6 75. 

The author of this standard historical work has devoted the studies and labors 
ef nearly a life-time to its preparation. In point of comprehensiveness of plan, 
richness of information, sagacity of criticism, and thoroughness of execution, it 
may claim pre-eminence over any similar production in the English language ; and 
it is certainly not surpassed by the most celebrated master-pieces of its kind in 
Continental literature. It gives a complete survey of the origin and developmei.t 
of Spanish literature, traces the progress of intellectual culture in that nation, pre- 
sents copious biographical sketches of her great authors, with genial comments on 
tlicir writings, and furnishes a variety of translations from the most celebrated 
poets. The style of the work is refined and classical, finished with exquisite pro- 
priety, and abounding in those subtle graces of expression, which distinguish the 
pen of the mature scholar. No work issued from the American press has received 
warmer commendation from European critics, or has done more to diffuse and el- 
evate the fame of our native literature. 

Hildretli's History of the United States. 

FiiiST Series. — From the first Settlement of the Country to the 
Adoption of the Federal Constitution. 3 vols. 8vo, Muslin, 
§6 00; Sheep extra, $6 TS. « 

Second Series. — From the Adoption of the Federal Constitu- 
tion to the End of the Sixteenth Congress. 3 vols. 8vo, Muslin, 
$6 00; Sheep extra, $6 75. 

As an introduction to the study of American history, this work, by common 
consent of the most competent judges, has attained the rank of a standard author- 
ity. In a terse, compact, and higlily perspicuous narrative, the writer traces the 
■pr ) Tjss and workings of American institutions until the close of the administra' 
tiou of President Munroe. The course of legislation since the establishment of our 
National Independence is minutely described, receiving, from the hands of the au- 
thor, the degree of a^^-^ntiom which its importance demands. In relating the early 
settlement of the Colonies and the events of the Revolutionary struggle, he crowds 
a great amount of mittpr i' to a narrow compass, leaving no important incident 
untouched, but never tempted by the interest of the theme into an unnecessary 
difiuseness. The work is especially valuable as a book of reference, a manual for 
instruction in American history. In no other way can the student of our annals 
find such a clear, precise, and copious statement of events, as by consulting these 
volumes. The accuracy of their details, the acuteness and sobriety of their com- 
ments, and the masculine vigor and naturalness of their style, make them equally 
indispensable to the statesman, the politician, the man of letters, and the general 
reader. 

Hildreth's Theory of Politics. 

12mo, Muslin, 75 eents. 

In this volume Mr. Ilildreth engages in a discussion of the foundation of gor- 
ernments, and the causes of political revolutions. It may be regarded as a coun- 
terpart to his " History of the United States," unfolding the theoretical principles 
which, in his view, underlie the progress of social affairs. Eminently acute and 
subtle, founded on an ingenious and refined analysis, and thoroughly original in 
their character, the ideas here set forth must attract the attention of thinking men- 



4 HARPER & BROTHERS' LlST OF BOOKS. 

Travels in Europe and the East : 

Being Sketches and Incidents, with graphic Descriptions ot Men, 

Places, and Things, as seen by the Author in England, Scotland, 

Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, 

Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt By Samuel 

Irex.kus Prime. 2 vols. Large 12mo, Muslin, $2 00. 

These volumes are the records of a year of travel in some of the most interesting 

parts of the world — Europe, Asia, and Africa — by a writer whose sparkling and 

brilliant style, keen perception of the beautiful, and active imagination, have lent a 

charm to his writings, which have won him thousands of admirers and friends. 

They are not dull and heavy description, but are full of personal incident and 

adventure, serving, at the same time, to engross and fasten the interest of the 

reader, while they afford, perhaps, the best view of men and things on his route 

which has ever been placed within the reach of the public. 

History of the Constitution. 

llistor}'- of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. B}^ George Ticknor Curtis. To he 
completed in two large and handsome Octavo Yolunies. Yol, I., 
Muslin, .$2 00; Law Sheep, $2 75. 

This work, by an accomplished scholar, supplies a want which has never been 
adequately met in the historical literature of the country. It embraces the period 
from the commencement of the Revolution to the assembling of the Convention 
of 17S7, showing the causes which rendered the calling of that body inevitable, and 
which gave the shape and coloring to its decisions ; explaining the foundations on 
which our national liberty and prosperity were then settled by the statesmen to 
whom the American Revolution gave birth ; and presenting a series of graphic 
memoirs of the principal members of the Convention. In preparing this great na- 
tional work, Mr. Curtis enjoyed the encouragement and counsels of Daniel 
Webster, wlio look the liveliest interest in its completion, and urged its import- 
ance almost in the last days of his life. Written in a condensed and vigorous 
style, founded on accurate and persevering historical research, crowding a lively 
narrative with novel incidents and events, and presenting the characters of the 
illustrious framers of the Constitution in bold and discriminating portraits, this 
highly important work is adapted to occupy a distiuiguished place in the records 
of American history. It is an accession of sterling merit to our Revolutionary an- 
nal3, and can not fail to challenge the attention and admiration of our statesmen, 
scholars, and politicians, no less than the great body of the American people. 

The U. S. Griundl E.xpedition 

in Search of Sir John Franklin. By Dr. E. K. Kane, U.S.K 
Richly Illustrated with Maps and Engravings on Steel, Wood, 
and Stone. 8vo, Mitslin, $3 00; Half Calf, $3 15. 
This volume forms a fitting memorial of one of the noblest enterprises of the 
day ; one undertaken to subserve no private or selfish ends, but from motives 
of the most generous philanthropy. It presents a vivid picture of the perils of Arc- 
tic navigation, as undergone during tnat wonderful besctment of almost nine months 
among the drifting ice in Wellington Channel. No one can read without emotion 
that Journal, written with the thermom^-ter at freezing point, when the vessel might 
at any moment be crushed by the ice-floes. Still, in spite of the circumstances in 
which it was written, the general tone is buoyant and hopeful. There can be no 
doubt that this volume is th? most interesting which has yet been produced by 
any voyagers in th'^ Arctic regions. 



HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF BOOKS. t 

Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution ; 

or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, 
Scener^^ Relics, and Traditions, of the War for Independence. 
By Benson J. Lossing. 2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $8 00 ; Sheep extra, 
$g 00; Half Calf, $10 00; Morocco, gilt edges, $15 00. Liberal 
allowances made to those who buy to sell again. 
A new and carefully revised edition of this magnificent work is just completed 
in two imperial octavo volumes of equal size, containing 1500 pages and 1100 en- 
gravings. As the plan, scope, and beauty of the work were originally developed, 
eminent literary men, and the leading presses of the United States and Great Brit- 
ain, pronounced it one of the most valuable historical productions ever issued in 
America. The prime object of the author in arranging his plan was to reproduce 
the history of the American Revolution m such an attractive manner, as to entice 
the youth of his country to read the wonderful story, study its philosophy and teach- 
ings, and to become familiar with the founders of our Republic and the value of their 
labors. In this he has been eminently successful ; for the young read the pages 
of the Field-Book with the same avidity as those of a romance. Such is the uni- 
versal testimony of parents who have introduced the work into their families. 

Its graphic illustrations have not only a charm as embellishments, but a lasting 
and intrinsic value as delineations of fact. An analysis shows that these illustra- 
tions exhibit 245 portraits, 475 autographs of eminent men, 18-2 celebrated build- 
ings, 62 maps and plans of battles, fortifications, &c., 46 views of battle-grounds, 
102 views of other historical localities, 56 sketches of curious historical objects, 20 
fac similes of manuscripts, 27 medals, seals, &c., 46 views of fortifications, sketches 
of 12 remarkable trees, 76 monuments, 24 old churches, 6 statues, 57 appropriate 
initial letters, and about a dozen miscellaneous fancy sketches. There are in all 
1100 engravings, including 1500 distinct illustrations ofobjects described in the text. 
A very elaborate Analytical and Chronological Index hns been prepared for each 
volume, by which the student may reidily find any name, event, locality, or fact 
mentioned in the War. For public and private libraries, for constant reference in 
families, and as a reading-book in houp.ciioMs and schools, it has no superior among 
the many books offered to the public. Explanatory notes are profusely given upon 
every page in the volumes, and also a brief biographical sketch of every man dis- 
tinguished in the events of the Revolution, the history of whose life is known. 
The Supplement of forty pages contains a History of the Naval Operations of the 
Revolution; cf the Diplcmaci/ ; of the Confederation and Federal Constitution; 
the Prisons and Prison-ships of Neiu York; Lives of the Signers of the t)eclara- 
tion of Independence, and other matters of curious interest to the student of our 
history. As a whole, it contains all the essential facts of the early history of our 
Republic, which are scattered throu-^h scores of volumes, often inaccessible to the 
groat mass of readers. It forms a complete Guide- Bonk to tho tourist seeking for 
fields consecrated by patriotism, which lie scattered over our broad land. 

Nothing has been spared to make this Great National Work com.plete, reliable, 
and eminently useful to all classes of citizens. Upward of $35,000 were expended 
in the publication of the first edition. The exquisite wood-cuts, engraved under 
the immediate supervision of the author from his own drawings, in the highest 
style of the art, required the greatest care in printing. To this end the eflTorts 
of the publishers were directed ; and they take great pleasure in presenting these 
volumes as the best specimen of typography ever issued from the American press. 

Lossliig's Flue Arts. 

Outline History of the Fine Arts ; embracing a View of the Rise, 
Progress, and Influence of the Arts among different Nations, An- 
cient and Modern, with Notices of the Character and Works of 
many celebrated Artists. Engravings. ISmo, Muslin, 45 cents. 



G HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF BOOKS. 

Goodridi's British Eloquence. 

Select British Eloquence; embracing the best Speeches entire 
of the most eminent Orators of Great Britain for the last two 
Centuries; with Sketches of their Lives, an Estimate of their 
Genius, and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. B3' CIIAu^•CEY A. 
Goodrich, D.D., Professor in Yale College. 8vo, Muslin, $3 50; 
Sheep extra, $3 75. 

In this carefully prepared volume, we have an important contribution to rhetor- 
ical literature. Containing the speeches of the great British orators, which are 
regarded as the master-pieces of their respective authors ; a memoir of each orator, 
showing the leading events of his public life, and the distmctive characteristics 
of his oratory ; an historical introduction to each of the speeches, explaining the 
circumstances of the case ; the state of parties, and the exact point at issue ; an 
analysis of the longer speeches in side notes ; and a large body of critical and ex- 
planatory notes, together with translations of the passages quoted from foreign 
languages ; it leaves nothing to be desired as a text-book of the political and fo- 
rensic eloquence of Great Britain. The copious and valuable memoirs and notices 
by the editor make this less a compilation than an original work. The manner in 
which he has performed liis task is a model of accurate and thorough editorship. 
He has omitted nothing which the most exacting student could demand for the 
elucidation of the subject in hand, without ever being tempted to indulge in su- 
perfluous details. A great mass of attractive information is thus presented, and 
in a style of singular clearness, strength, and elegance. It is rarely that so much 
profound scholarship, sound judgment, refined taste, and vigorous exjiression, are 
devoted to the critical preparation for the press of the standard productions of oth- 
er writers. 

Alison's History of Enrope, 

From the commencement of tlie French Eevlution, in 1'789, to 
the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815. In addition to the 
notes on Chapter LXXVL, which correct the errors of the orig- 
inal work concerning the United States, a copious Analytical In- 
dex has been appended to this American edition. 4 vols. Bvo, 
Muslin, $5 00 ; Sheep extra, $5 60. 

Alison combines the minutest attention to detail, the utmost carefulness in au- 
thenticating facts, with the greatest facility in deducing principles and laying them 
before the reader. His is by far the most remarkable historical work of the cen- 
tury. It exhibits remarkable diligence, and does impartial justice on higher prin- 
ciples than have yet been announced in history. 

Alison's History of Europe. 

From the Fall of jS"a})uleon, in 1815, to the Accession of Louis 
Napoleon, in 1852. A Xew Series. Vols. I. and II., 8vo, Mus- 
lin, $1 25 per Volume; Sheep extra, $1 50 per Volume. 
The merits of Sir Archibald Alison as a historian need not be commented on in 
order to call attention to this important work. He brings industry, high culture, 
indefatigal'le perseverance, an active and elegant mind, and rare powers of de- 
scription, to the accomplishment of a task in which he evidently takes a cordial 
dehght. Viewing his work as an elaborate digest of the events of the age, accom- 
panied with frequent vivid and expressive portraitures of conspicuous scenes, it 
m.urt be regarded as a welcome contribution to our resources on European history, 
and an indispensable aid to the studies of every intelligent reader. 



HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF BOOKS. 7 

Alison's Life of Marlborough. 

Military Life of John, Duke of Marlborough. With Maps. 12mo, 
Muslin, $1 50. 

Alison's Principles of Taste. 

Essays on the X ature and Principles of Taste. With Corrections 
and Improvements, by Abraham Mills. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents. 
We look upon this as, on the whole, the best and most pleasing work which has 

yet been produced on the subject of Taste and Beauty. The whole of the book is 

iii no ordinary degree instructive. — Edinburgh Review. 

Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians. 

A popular Account of their Manners and Customs, condensed from 

his larger Work, with some new Matter. Illustrated with 500 

Wood-cuts. 2 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $2 00. 

In this important work a complete view of Egyptian antiquities is presented, 
showing the character of the domestic life, political institutions, religious observ- 
ances, and industrial arts of that remarkable people. It Is the product of long 
and laborious research ; it bears the stamp of thoroughness on every page ; it is 
copious without being confused ; the descriptive portions are crowded with infor- 
mation, while thoy are couched in a flowing and attractive style, clothing the hoary 
and wasted Past in a life-like costume. The volume is illustrated by a multitude 
of engravings, which make the explanations of the writer perfectly clear to the 
eye. It will be welcomed by the student of profane history, and no less by the 
searcher of the Scriptures, as an efficient and most interesting aid in their pursuits. 

Burns's Life and Works. 

The Life and Works of llobert Burns. Edited by Robert Cham- 
bers. 4 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $3 00. 

Mr. Chambers's edition is the completest presentation of the Scottish poet now, 
or likely to be hereafter, in existence. The various compositions are here strung 
in strict chronological order upon the Memoir, that they may render up the whole 
light which tUey are qualified to throw upon the history of the life and mental 
progress of Burns, while a new significancy is given to them by their being read 
in connection with the current of events and emotions which led to their produc- 
tion. The result of this plan is not merely a great amount of new biographical 
detail, but a new sense, efficacy, and feeling in the writings of the poet himself. 

Haydon's xlutobiograpliy. 

Life of Benjamin Eobert Hay don, Historical Painter, from his 
Autobiography and Journals. Edited and compiled by Tom Ta r- 
LOR, of the Inner Temple, Esq. 2 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $1 75. 
This is a work of uncommon interest, describing the artistic career, the personal 
experience, and the perpetual struggles and difficulties of the celebrated English 
painter, drawn from his own autobiographical narrative in part, and from his co- 
pious journals, with brief editorial comments to preserve the continuity of the 
story. Ilaydon was a decided original. His journals give a vivid portraiture of the 
man, and are marked by deep pathos. They are full of anecdotes of celebrated 
men, and contain many valuable criticisms upon art. Ilaydon was in relations 
with the Duke of Wellington, Lord Brougham, Sir Robert Peel, and other British 
statesmen, of whom he gives a variety of interesting reminiscences. His anec- 
dotes of Wordsworth, Leigh Hunt, Keats, Shelley, Sir Walter Scott, as well as 
r.( several contemporary paintf-rs. nr<^ attractive features of the book 



g HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF BOOKS. 

Addison's Complete Works. 

The Works of Joseph AdJison, embracing the whole of the 
"Spectator." Complete in 3 "^ ols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $4 50. 
The superiority of this edition over any other published consists in its conve- 
nience of form, its low price, its accuracy, its neatness of mechanical execution, 
and, above all, its completeness. It comprises not only all the essays, letters, 
poems, criticisms, tales, descriptions, and dramatic works of Addison, but also 
the whole of the " Spectator ;" this last being a new and very useful arrangement, 
inasmuch as many of the finest essays, narratives, and characters in that admira- 
ble series were contributed jointly by Addison and others. Care has been taken 
to designate not only the papers contributed by Addison, but also those furnished 
by each of the other writers, and, in all other respects, the edition of the " Spec- 
tator" comprised in these volumes is as complete and perfect as any ever published. 

Addison's Spectator. 

The Spectator in Miniatiire. Selections from the Spectator; em- 
bracing the most interesting Papers, by Addison, Steel, and oth- 
ers. 2 vols. 18mo, Muslin, 90 cents. 

Johnson's Complete Works. 

The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. With an Essay on his 

Life and Genius, by Arthur Murphy, Esq. Portrait of Johnson, 

2 vols. 8yo, Sheep extra, $3 00. 

This is the only complete edition of Dr. Johnson's works which has been pub- 
lished in this country. It will be found to contain mu;h that is valuable in itself, 
besides many papers of much curiosity, including every variety of suijjt.'ct v.'Uioh 
a mind so comprehensive as his might naturally embrace. 

Joiiiison's Life and Writings. 

Selected and Arranged by Rev. William P. Page. 2 vols. 18mo, 
Muslin, 90 cents. 

Boswell's Johnson. 

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Including a Journey to the 
Hebrides. By Ja:mes Boswell, Esq. A new Edition, with nu- 
merous Additions and Notes, by John Wilson Croker, LL.D., 
r.}l.S. Portrait of Boswell. 2 vols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $8 00. 
The richest dictionary of wit and wisdom any language can boast of; and its 
treasures may row be referred to with infinitely greater ease than heretofore. 
Enlarged and illuminated by the industrious researches and sagacious running 
criticism of Mr. Croker, it is, without doubt— excepting a few immortal monu- 
ments of creative genius— that English book which, were the island to be sunk 
to-morrow with all its inhabitants, would be most prized in other days and coun- 
tries by the students "of us and our history." — Quarterly Review. 

Demosthenes. 

The Orations of Demosthenes. Translated by Thomas Leland, 
D.D. 2 vols. ISmo, Mu.slin, 85 cents. 



HARPER & BROTHERS' LIST OF^OOKS. Q 

Drydcii's Complete Works. 

The Works of John Dryden, iu V^ei-se and Prose. With a Life, 
by Rev. John Mitford. 2 vols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $3 00. 
No English poet, perhaps no English writer, has attained, as regards expres- 
sion, such undisputed excellence. A writer who has deeply studied the principles 
and structure of our language, confesses that Dry den's practical knowledge of the 
English language was, beyond all others, exquisite and wonderful. 

Burke's Complete Works. 

The Works of Edmund Burke. With a Memoir. Poi'trait. 3 

vols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $4 50. 

Shakspeare and Burke are, if I may venture on the expression, above talent. 
Burke v/as one of the first thinkers as well as one of the greatest orators of his 
time. He is without any parallel in any age or country, except, perhaps, Lord 
Bacon and Cicero. — Sir J. Mackintosh. 

Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful. 

A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the 
Sublime and Beautiful. With an Introductory Discourse con- 
cerning Taste. By the Right Hon. Edmund Burke. Adapted to 
popular use, by Abraham Mills, A.M. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents. 
Of uie character of Burke's admirable treatise on the Sublime and Beautiful, a 
work that has been so long and thoroughly known, and so highly estimated by 
all who have any pretensions to letters, it would indeed be superfluous, at this 
day, to enter into an examination. In the present edition several improvements 
have been made. Objectionable passages have been expunged, and a series of 
questions added. 

Miss Beeclier's Domestic Economy. 

A Treatise on Domestic Economy, for the use of Young Ladies 
at Home and at School. By Miss Catiierine E. Beecher. Re- 
vised Edition, with numerous Additions and illustrative Engrav- 
ings. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents. 

This volume is extremely well suited to be used as a text-i)ook in schools for 
young ladies. It has been examined by the Massachusetts Board of Education, 
and been deemed v/orthy by them to be admitted as a part of the Massachusetts 
School Library. It has also been adopted as a text-book in some of our largest and 
most popular fsmale schools, both at the East and West. 

Miss Beeclier's Domestic Receipt-Book. 

Designed as a Supplement to her Treatise on Domestic Economy. 

12mo, Muslin, 75 cents. 

An original collection of receipts is here furnished, which embraces a great va- 
riety of well cooked dishes for every-day comfort and enjoyment, and only such as 
have been tested by superior housekeepers, and warranted to be the best. The 
receipts are expressed in language which is short, simple, and perspicuous, yet 
all directions are given so minutely, that the book can be kept in the kitchen, and 
used by any domestic who can read, as a guide in every one of her employments 
in the kitchen. Directions are also furnished in regard to small dinner-parties 
nnd evening company, which will enable any young housekeeper to perform her 
f-art on 'tu'^h occasion^, with ease, fomforf. and success 



£)axptx'Q l\tvo iiTatalogut 



A NEW Descriptive Catalogue of irARPER & Brothers' 
Publications is now ready for distribution, and may be obtained 
gratuitously on application to the Publishers personally, or by letter 
enclosing six cents in postage stamps. 

The attention of gentlemen, in town or country, designing to form 
Libraries or enrich their literary collections, is respectfully invited to 
this Catalogue, which will be found to comprise a large proportion of 
the standard and most esteemed works in English Literature — com- 
prehending MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND VOLUMES— which are Of- 
fered in most instances at less than one half the cost of similar pro- 
ductions in England. 

To Librarians and others connected with Colleges, Schools, etc., 
who may not have access to a reliable guide in forming the true esti- 
mate of literary productions, it is believed the present Catalogue will 
prove especially valuable as a manual of reference. 

To prevent disappointment, it is suggested that, whenever books 
can not be obtained through any bookseller or local agent, applications 
with remittance should be addressed direct to the Publishers, which, 
will be promptly attended to. 

FrmUchn Square, New Yori 



"E 1059^ 



